Chicken Makhani (Indian Butter Chicken for those that don't know the real name - smile)

So I used the Ghee this evening! I had lovely high rez photographs of the cooking and the food. However, someone (who shall remain nameless) dropped my SD card in water. This is the lone iPhone photo that remains. I promise next time I will keep my SD card safe!

I wanted to try the Ghee that was given to me by Pure Indian. I will say I did not buy it and that they gave it to me for free. I wanted to give it a real review and use it with an Indian dish. I made Chicken Makhani using the ghee to not only saute the veggies but the chicken.

For those not familiar with Ghee, it is butter with the milk solids and water removed by cooking it down. This ghee is even more special because it comes from grass fed cows. I have made this Makhani recipe many times (I will post it in a second post) and this ghee gave the dish a new level of flavor. The richness was unmistakable and it added flavor that had been missing from the dish.

Store bought Ghee has a tendency to be heavy and oily. I was worried that this would be the same but I am very happy to report that that is not the case. Pure Indian ghee is light and very smooth. It flavors are soft and earthy and very smooth. I tried the sauteed veggies before combining them into the gravy and they were so delicious I wanted to eat them by themselves. This bodes well for just using this ghee on top of roasted vegetables.

The undeniable fact that this ghee added depth and flavor to this dish? My Korean mother who does not like Indian food and has never eaten my Makhani before tried a bite and then I thought I was having a stroke because I saw her with a bowl of it and some rice. She has never eaten any Indian food before. Ever. The only difference this time was the Ghee.

For Pure Indian Original Ghee I give it five stars. It's a great addition to any cook's kitchen who is serious about flavor and health.

Next I will use some of their spiced Ghee for cooking. Stay tuned to see if they are as good as the original! (smile)

Cooking with fire (ok Ghee)

I love the paleo diet and I really love using Ghee. Ghee is like clarified butter. Clarified butter is unsalted butter that has been heated which makes the milk solids separate from the butter. Ghee is one step further and left on the heat until the solids sink and brown.

The great paleo queen over at NomNomPaleo has a great DIY recipe for ghee. Just click here. BTW if you haven't been reading NomNomPaleo...what is wrong with you? They also have a great iPad app (smile).

I do make my own Ghee but because I have MS I'm trying to find some products that I don't have to make myself. I am about to go on a cooking spree with Pure Indian Foods Ghee. A review will be posted here shorty (and maybe a give away). They have six herbed/spiced ghee's as well as original ghee. I will post my review on Thursday for everyone to see!

Ghee!

Well peeps I have been buying ghee (clarified butter) to cook with since doing the paleo/leptin foodie thing. I am a bit lazy so buying was easier. I was told by this cool new app from Nom Nom Paleo that making ghee was easy! SO, I put my big girl pants on and decided to make some!

I get my butter! 2lbs of it to be exact! Go large or go home! (No, I don't eat the rice that's on the table or use the PAM spray. My Korean mother does though! I'm surprised there isn't a can of spam there...) 

2lbs of butter is a lot of butter (yeah the pictures suck but I'm using my iPhone sue me). So, I cut it up into slices like a bread loaf! 

And put it in the pan.

I also get my cheese cloth strainer and huge measuring cup! Thank you again Nom Nom Paleo app! If you look close you can see my new name and enough spices to kill a small village of people. 

Look we have bubbles!

Lots of foamy stuff happens (shocked look). You can't see it in this photo but once the little milk soilds get brown they start to float to the bottom. Then you know you're done! Soooo, I strained it! 

EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW. This is after i strained all of the nasty out of the butter.

















AND we have ghee!! IN a jar...next to a pink flowered rice cooker. TADA!

It took maybe an hour. I was thinking it would take less time but I didn't take into account I was melting 2lbs of butter. It really was easy if not time consuming. I also was scared that I would burn it so I may or may not have sat on a stool next to the stove for an hour texting people and posting on facebook. 

Time for me to go for a walk in this 1000 degree Florida weather! Will blog more if I live!