Clarified butter used in Indian cooking, made by slowly heating butter until the water evaporates and milk solids separate. It has a rich, nutty flavor and high smoke point, making it ideal for frying and sautéing.
From Hindi घी (ghī) and Urdu گھی (ghī), both meaning 'clarified butter.' The word traces back to Sanskrit घृत (ghṛta) meaning 'sprinkled' or 'clarified butter.' It entered English through colonial contact in India during the 18th-19th centuries, appearing in English texts by the 1660s.
Ghee is one of the few cooking fats that actually improves with age - traditional Indian families would keep ghee for years, and the older it got, the more prized it became for its deep, complex flavor! The word's journey mirrors the spice trade routes, traveling from ancient Sanskrit through multiple Indian languages before British colonists brought it to English kitchens.
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