How To Make Ghee From Malai? [ 3 Easy Steps ]

Who would not have heard the name of Ghee? Every Indian is well introduced by the name “ghee”. Ghee is using in India since the ancient ages. Ghee is a staple of Indian cuisine and is used to prepare a variety of different dishes. From desi ghee laddoos and parathas to traditional main dishes, ghee is a secret ingredient that makes everything tastier.

But have you ever thought? How ghee is formed? How can we make ghee at home? If we consume ghee on daily basis, then it should be known how ghee is formed. If you once learned how to make ghee then you would be able to make ghee at home by yourself. In this short piece of article, we will get to know, How can we make ghee at home? 

How To Make Ghee From Malai At Home?

For making ghee from malai at home. You will need a bowl full of malai (milk cream) that you can collect each day by skimming the top layer of the settled milk for 8 to 10 days. Once you have a bowl of Malai ready, here\’s how you can make butter and then ghee. The basic flow chart for making ghee from malai is Malai> Butter> Ghee. 

So these are the three fundamental steps that are to be followed to get ghee from malai. At first, we will collect malai from the milk, and in the second step we will collect butter from the malai, and in the last step, we will collect ghee from the butter. 

Step 1: Getting malai (cream) from the milk

Below are some steps, that can be followed to get malai from the milk. 

1. First add 2 or 3 tbsp of water to the pan. We are adding water to the pan because when we poured milk into the pan, then it didn’t get stick to the pan. 
2. Now add, 1 Liter of milk to the pan. 
3. Leave the milk for boiling on a slow or medium flame. Please keep your eyes on it, otherwise, you will not even know when it will come out.
4. Leave the boiled milk undisturbed for at least 2 or 3 hours so that it gets cooled.
5. Remove the top layer of the cooled milked i.e. cream (malai) and store it in a separate airtight container and freezer. Repeat this process of removing the top layer for at least 2 weeks. So collecting the malai for 2 weeks and storing it in an airtight container, we get approx $$2frac{1}{2}$$ cups of malai. 
6. After 2 weeks remove the air-tight container from the freezer and leave it in the room tempt for at least 6 hours. 

Step 2: Getting butter (Makhan) from the malai (cream)

Now so far, we have extracted malai from the milk. In this section, we will see how can we extract butter from the malai. Below are some steps, that will help us to get our butter from malai. 

1. To get butter from the malai, add 2 cups of ice-cold water to the malai. Ice-cold water helps to separate the butter from the malai. 
2. Now, churn it for 3 or 4 minutes using a hand blender or churner.
3. When you end your churning, you will see a thick layer of (desi Makhan) butter formed on the top. Remove it from the churning pot with your hand or any spoon, and store it in another clean vessel.
4. Now squeeze out all the water that would be present in the butter by pressing it between your palms. After squeezing all the butter, you will get $$1frac{1}{2}$$ cups of white butter. The things that will remain behind is the milk-water mixture and it is also edible. 
5. And your homemade butter is now ready for extracting ghee from it. 

Step 3: Getting ghee from the white butter (Makhan)

This is the last step, where we will extract ghee from the butter. Below are some steps that will help us to get our ghee from the butter. 

1. Put the extracted $$1frac{1}{2}$$ cups of white butter into a deep aluminium pan. 
2. Mix the butter well and cook it at least for 20 minutes on a slow flame. Note that you have to stir and scrape the sides of the pan from time to time, otherwise butter can be stuck to the sides and bottom of the pan. Stirring and scraping will avoid butter to stick to the sides and bottom. 
3. After cooking it for 20 minutes, you will start seeing clear pale yellow-colored liquid on the top. This is the first indication that your homemade ghee is now ready. The solid brown color fat that is left behind in the pan is ghee residue. 
4. Turned off your gas knob, and leave the pan for some minutes so that solid fat gets sedimented.
5. Now strain the ghee from the mixture using a fine strainer. The brown solid fat that is left behind is also edible, don’t throw it.
6. This is the pure desi ghee that you have extracted from the malai. Store it in an airtight container and use it as per your need. If you want it to store for a long period of time, then store it in the refrigerator. 

So this is the procedure to get ghee from the milk cream (malai) at home.