Ghee is a sacred medicine that has been used in Ayurveda for 1,000 of years. It is a symbol of nourishment and auspicious healing energy.
Benefits of ghee:
- Fuels the digestive fire
- Strengthens the internal juices of the body that are dried up with aging
- Builds Ojas or vitality, the essence of life
- Anti-inflammatory-good for allergies, arthritis, autoimmune disorders, premature aging, pain, swelling, stagnation
- Nourishes all 7 types of tissues in the body
- Lubricates the body inside and out- great for constipation, relieves dryness in the body, reduces inflammation stiff joints, promoting lubrication and flexibility
- Decreases cholesterol!
- Promotes glowing skin, increases libido
- Contains cancer-fighting linoleic acid
I made the cultured ghee in the above picture. I bought heavy cream that is low temperature pasteurized. I heat the cream in a heavy pan on low temp. Heat the cream up to 188 degrees and keep it there for 15 minutes. At the end of the time I removed 1/2 cup of the cream and put in a bowl to cool down. When it became room temperature I added 2 teaspoons of a yogurt starter and mixed.
The rest of the cream I poured into another container to cool down. If you leave it in the cooking pot it takes longer to cool down. I put the cream in the insert of an instapot. Let me cream cool down to 115 degrees. Then you lightly mix the yogurt starter into the instapot cream. Then I place it in the instapot and hit the yogurt button. It takes 8 hours to incubate.
Once the Instapot is done, put the yogurt into fridge to cool all the way down, at least 4-5 hours. Once it is cooled, I then put the yogurt into my Kitchen aid mixer with the whisk attachment. You are going to want the shield guard on the mixer. Turn mixer on high. Get a bowl of ice water ready. Whip the yogurt at high speed and watch. The yogurt will become thicker and start to turn yellow. When you hear a sloughing sound, the yogurt has become buttermilk and butter. The butter should become a ball around the whisk. Have a strainer and a bowl ready to separate the buttermilk and butter. Put the butter back in the mixer with some of the ice water. This rinses the buttermilk off the butter. Strain again adding the milky water to the buttermilk.
You now have buttermilk that is delicious to use. It lasts about 5-7 days. You must squeeze all extra moisture out of the butter. Now take the butter and place in a heavy pot. Turn on low heat. The butter is going to melt there will be a frothy film start to float on the top. Eventually it will go away. The butter will become clear on the bottom, and you can see through it. The protein solids will start to sink to the bottom. Once those solids become tan to dark brown it is time to take it off the stove. Use 4 layers of muslin to filter the ghee, place the muslin in a strainer then pour the ghee over the muslin. The ghee while go through the muslin and strainer into a bowl.
It will smell heavenly in your house. The color of the ghee is like sunshine. Pour the ghee into a clean jar. Do not put the lid on the ghee until it is room temperature. Place the jar in a dark place like a cupboard and let it sit and become solid.
Enjoy this wonderful ancient medicine!.