Pure Indian Foods Ghee: Great Products and an Interesting Interview

Pure Indian Foods ghee is a fifth-generation Indian business, now run in the United States.  My interview with owner Sandeep Agarwal talks about this amazing substance, its history, uses, and the different ghee products made by Pure Indian Foods.

To listen in, the podcast link is on my iTunes page or there’s a player at the bottom of this article.

Pure Indian Foods ghee is my favorite ghee, and I order it by the case. It is organic, non-homogenized, and made from raw milk butter.  The flavor of the plain ghee and the herb infused ghees is amazing and makes plain food taste great. Their products include Unflavored ghee, Coconut Oil with Ghee, Italian Ghee, Cultured Ghee, and a new ghee with MCT oil for use in coffee, tea or broth.

Ghee is an ancient food, used in Ayurvedic Medicine, prayer rituals, and in everyday cooking in India and other countries. It’s an ideal cooking fat with a high smoke point, better than coconut oil. Ghee is shelf stable without refrigeration, and won’t spoil like butter.

How is Ghee made?

Properly made ghee contains no water or milk solids (as butter does), so it does not sputter, burn or pop in your saute pan.  It needs no refrigeration until an opened jar is out for more than 2 – 3 months. No chance of that in my house though!

Pure Indian Foods ghee is made from the raw milk and cream of pastured cows.  The milk is rich in butterfat and yields a little Vitamins A and K.  The beta carotene in the cow’s diet of Spring and Fall grass gives cow ghee its yellow color, unlike water buffalo ghee (popular in India) which stays white.

Isn’t Pure Indian Foods Ghee just saturated fat?

Actually, no, it’s not….

Ghee is 62% saturated fat, 29% monounsaturated fat, and 4% polyunsaturated fat.  It has a perfect Omega 3 to Omega 6 ratio, at 1 to 2.5.  It also contains plenty of CLA – Conjugated Linoleic Acid – one of the healthiest but hard to find fats found only in pastured animal products.

Is ghee the same as clarified butter?

Technically, ghee and clarified butter appear the same, but the process of making ghee is very precise.  Slight errors may give you clarified butter that will still contain some water and milk solids. If it does, it is not true ghee and will not be shelf stable.  The water will allow spoilage of the ghee, as well as make it splatter when cooking.  Any remaining milk solids are proteins that cause a dairy reaction in those susceptible.

If I’m intolerant to dairy, can I still have ghee?

In my experience, the answer is 100% yes. Dairy intolerance is caused by either the sugar in dairy (lactose) or the proteins in dairy (milk solids with casein, lactalbumin and whey).  You can react to either or to both….  Since properly prepared ghee contains none of these, it presents no problems.  I am highly intolerant to dairy, ALL dairy, except ghee and I literally eat this ghee by the case.

Since there is no casein in high quality ghee, it is allowed on the GAPS Diet.

Is ghee the same as high vitamin Butter Oil?

No, the process is different.  Ghee requires low heat cooking and this does change the enzymes in the raw cream.  High Vitamin Butter Oil is centrifuged to get the oil from the cream and concentrate it.  It is primarily a Vitamin K supplement, not a food.  I supplement with Vitamin K2 from this company importing Australian Emu Oil as I was not able to tolerate the Butter Oil.  Emu Oil has many times more K2 than high vitamin butter oil.

There’s a delicious variety of ghee available at Pure Indian Foods.  Plain, Cultured, Spiced and ghee mixed with Coconut Oil.  The Italian ghee and Garlic ghee are outrageously good and make any plain food taste fantastic.  The Cultured ghee has a nice, slightly tangy taste, but does not have probiotics.

What’s New?

The newest product is called “Coffee ++”.  It’s cultured ghee with Medium Chain Triglycerides from coconut oil.  This is a brain-boosting combo suitable for adding to coffee, tea or hot broth.

For more on the benefits of ghee and coconut oil, read this post.   And explore the Pure Indian Foods website for recipes, FAQ’s and shopping!  They also have many videos from customers sharing recipes and uses for their products.

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