There are two ways to make ghee. One is quick. The other is how it is made in the villages our milk comes from, and it is the only way we make it.
Most ghee on a shop shelf starts as cream. The milk is separated, the cream is heated until the water boils off, and what is left is ghee. It is quick, it is cheap, and it is what most factories do.
## The long way
Ours starts as whole milk from hill cattle kept by village households across Pithoragarh. The milk is boiled and set to curd overnight. In the morning the curd is churned — the bilona — until the makkhan comes away from the buttermilk. Then the makkhan is clarified slowly over a low flame until it turns to ghee.
It takes far more milk and far more time to get a jar this way. It is the way these households have always made it, and we have not found a reason to change it.
## Cow's milk only
Every jar is cow's milk. Buffalo milk gives more fat for less money, and once it is in a jar the difference cannot be seen — which is exactly why it is the substitution most cheap ghee makes. Ours never does.
## Why it looks different from jar to jar
Bilona ghee sets grainy, and its colour follows the season and what the cattle are eating — deeper yellow when there is fresh grass, paler in winter. Two jars side by side will not always match. That is what a small-batch food looks like.
## Keeping it
Keep the jar closed, at room temperature, and use a dry spoon. If it sets solid in the cold, stand the jar in warm water for a few minutes.
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