Most jars of ghee live the same small life: a dollop on dal, a smear on roti, repeat. That is not a bad life, but it is a fraction of what the ingredient can actually do. Here are ten ways to get more out of the jar.
1. Finish your dal or sabzi with a tadka
A hot ghee tempering with cumin, mustard seeds or curry leaves, poured over dal right before serving, changes the whole dish. This is the single highest-impact five-second upgrade in Indian cooking.
2. Toast your spices in it
Whole spices bloom differently in ghee than in oil, the flavour comes out rounder, less sharp. Try it the next time a recipe calls for tempering.
3. Swap it into your morning toast
Instead of butter, a thin layer of ghee on hot toast, plain or with a sprinkle of salt, is worth trying once before you decide it is not for you.
4. Stir a spoon into hot rice
Plain steamed rice, a spoon of ghee, a pinch of salt. It sounds too simple to be worth mentioning, which is exactly why most people forget how good it is.
5. Use it for sautéing vegetables
Ghee has a high smoke point, which makes it genuinely well suited to sautéing and shallow frying, not just finishing dishes.
6. Add it to your coffee
A small spoon blended into hot coffee gives a rounder, less bitter cup. See our full take on ghee coffee and other swaps.
7. Finish popcorn with it instead of butter
Melted and tossed through hot popcorn with a little salt, it holds up better than butter without going soggy as fast.
8. Use it in your baking
Ghee works as a 1:1 swap for butter in many baked goods, particularly shortbread-style biscuits and cookies where a rich, slightly nutty flavour is welcome.
9. Make your roti or paratha with it
Brushed on hot off the tawa, this is the original use and still one of the best.
10. Keep a jar for festival sweets
Most Indian mithai relies on ghee as a base fat. More on this in why ghee makes or breaks your Diwali sweets.
