Substitute for Ghee

Ghee is butter with its water cooked off and its milk solids browned and strained away. What remains is almost pure butterfat. That makes it useful in two ways: it can take high heat without the scorching that ordinary butter suffers, and it carries a sweet, toasted flavor that is central to many Indian dishes. A substitute needs to match one or both, depending on whether the ghee is a frying fat or a flavoring.

High-heat cooking and tadka

For tempering spices, frying puris or searing, the fat must stand up to heat. Clarified butter is the closest match. A neutral oil such as peanut or sunflower handles the heat just as well; to bring back some flavor, finish the dish with a small knob of butter after it comes off the heat. Avoid plain butter here: its milk solids blacken before the spices bloom, and its water spits when whole spices hit the pan.

Gentle cooking and finishing

Dal, rice, khichdi and flatbreads are often finished with a spoonful of ghee for aroma. Unsalted butter is fine for this, since it is not being fried. Use about a quarter more than the ghee called for, because up to a fifth of butter is water and milk solids rather than fat. If the ghee is used for frying onions at the start of a curry, keep the heat moderate and stir often.

Sweets and baking

Indian sweets such as ladoo, barfi and Mysore pak depend on ghee setting firm as it cools. Refined coconut oil behaves the same way. In halwa and cookies, clarified butter gives the right texture; plain butter adds water, so cook halwa a few minutes longer to drive it off.

When not to substitute

When ghee is the featured flavor, as in ghee rice, Mysore pak or ghee roast dosa, any oil-based swap makes a noticeably plainer dish. Making ghee from butter takes about 20 minutes and is the better option. For a milk allergy, every butter-based option is unsafe, including ghee itself.

Common mistakes

• Frying puris or bhature in butter. The water makes the oil spit and the milk solids burn, so the bread turns spotty and bitter.
• Using salted butter. Ghee is unsalted, and salted butter makes rich dishes taste noticeably saltier.
• Expecting olive oil to set sweets. It stays liquid, so ladoo crumble and barfi never firm.
• Tempering spices in cold fat. Whatever the substitute, heat it until a cumin seed sizzles immediately; otherwise the spices stew instead of blooming.