FAQs



1. What is ghee?
 
Ghee is one of the many in the class of clarified butters. Ghee is a naturally purified and shelf stable version of clarified butter where all detectable water is removed, making it stable. Ghee is also well filtered, leaving it as a pure butter fat that need not be refrigerated. To TRULY be ghee and not just anhydrous milk fat, it must be CULTURED and rendered over direct heat, rather than separated mechanically. 
 
2. Can I make BulletProof Coffee with your ghee?
 
Well, BulletProof™   is a trademarked name of a company, (we are NOT that company!) and the name they give to what we simply call “Butter Coffee”. Having trekked in the Himalaya ourselves, we also were exposed to Yak Butter Tea. We don’t really think Butter coffee bares much of a resemblance (trust me, if someone subbed yak butter tea for your butter coffee, you would TOTALLY know!), but the effects are similar. Adding ghee to your coffee makes it creamy, takes the edge off the caffeine, and allows those who prefer to coffee, but not to breakfast, to do so without harming the gut. Learn to make Butter coffee the I Love Ghee way here.
 
3. What diets can I use Ghee on?
 
All of the flavors of Ahara ghee can be used for WHOLE30, Ketogenic Diet, Paleo Diet, all but Niter kibbeh can be used on Low-FodMap and GAPS diet.  All low carb diets work for ghee. Balanced diets like DASH and Anti-inflammatory are also ghee friendly. Our products are safe on the AIP protocol as well.  The only “diet” that is unfriendly to ghee is the Low-fat diet, generally regarded as outdated medicine for most* conditions.
 
4. Is Ghee vegan?
 
No. By definition, ghee is made from cow butter, so it is derived from an animal source. We do not meet the specifications for a vegan diet. However, if you are staying away from dairy for health reasons, we are generally seen as a non-dairy product, as it is a pure fat. We use butter sourced from farms with the highest animal welfare designations. If you choose to eat animal products, you can feel good about ours.

 
5. Is Ghee vegetarian?
 
Yes, absolutely. The cream comes from sweet, cow-milk. Our herds are completely vegetarian fed, which is to say, they are pastured and supplemented with hay, alfalfa and very minimal ancient grains. No feedlot behavior is tolerated in our supply chain.
 
6. How can I use ghee?
 
You are only limited to your imagination. Ghee need not be used only for Indian cooking, though it is obviously perfect for that. Ghee can be used ANYWHERE you would use butter or cooking oil! That is to say that you can sauté, roast, dollop, spread, fry or massage with it! Think…veggies, meats, grains, baking…the possibilities are endless. If you have our flavors, they become more versatile still! Check out our recipes to get started!
 There are also multiple cosmetic uses for plain ghee. 
 
7. What is flavored ghee and how do I use it?
 
We have 7 flavors, some sweet, some savory and all incredibly versatile. We recommend you be open minded about their application. Sometimes I spread lemon garlic ghee on toast and add a sprinkle of salt. It is drop-dead delicious. The same lemon garlic can cook up shrimp, chicken, greens, eggs, popcorn…. You can do the same with our Award winning Ethiopian Niter Kibbeh, turmeric black pepper, traditional, brown butter and even our new Chai ghee! Our Vanilla is amazing as a spread, stuffing for dates, flavorful anti-stick pan greaser, swap out for baking, grilling fruit or adding to butter-coffee! Once you start cooking with our flavored ghee, you will notice that you use them every day…sometimes several different ones in a day. They are good for cooking everything!
 
 
8. How is your ghee different than other ghee on the market?
 
Let us count the ways! We are Animal Welfare Certified® and Truly Grassfed®. We meet all the marks and points desired: We are glycosphate-free, year-round grassfed, cultured and flame-cooked! The butter you start with is half the battle when trying to produce the highest quality ghee on the market. The second part is the process. We stubbornly continue to create small batches over an open flame. We go this route because of the taste. One little taste of Ahara Ghee, next to machine made ghee will tell you why we take the time and the effort to make it this way. Additionally, mantra is chanted and played throughout the cooking process, to create the most saatvic (peaceful) environment and energy to be infused into the ghee we feed you.
 
9. I forgot about my ghee and it is past the best by date, is it still safe?
 
We add the best by dates for a point of reference. Since ghee does not really go “bad” or rancid, when the temperature is kept fairly stable, it is safe for years. However, we give a 2-year best by in that the flavors will remain in tact until that point. Later, the smell and taste may change. But wait. DON’T THROW IT OUT! Just move your older ghee into your bathroom as an eye makeup remover, hair oil or skin moisturizer. We would never let you waste your ghee! You can also use it for more (ahem) intimate purposes, so long as the smell continues to be pleasing to you.
 
 
10. Why is your traditional ghee sometimes a bit granular? Shouldn’t ghee be smooth like butter?
 
We are glad you asked! The savory “grain” is one of the sought-after qualities in ghee, which shows it is, indeed, pure ghee, which has been slow cooled. Smooth ghee is made by forcing the fats to cool more quickly, with refrigeration, freezing or blending after cooling. We choose a gentler way. Our Indian customers have helped to reinforce our love of the grain, which reminds them of home, and we believe, develops deeper, richer flavor. When we stop expecting ghee to be smooth, just like butter, we can appreciate it for its texture, flavor and extreme flexibility! The fat crystals melt with heat, so it is only grainy when solid.
 
If you prefer smooth ghee, simply melt it to liquid by placing the jar in a hot water bath, when it it totally melted, put it in the fridge overnight and it will solidify smooth. Remove and store at room temp and it will stay that way!
 
For the GHEEKS:
Here is a study conducted in India, showing how and why grain is formed
http://krishikosh.egranth.ac.in/bitstream/1/57833/1/dt95.pdf

 
11. My ghee was melted / liquid at the top when it arrived. Is it still good?
 
Ghee has a melting point around 76 degrees, depending on which of the distribution of saturated and unsaturated fats in your jar. Saturated fats are heavier, which is why they sink to the bottom, in hotter weather, and you sometimes get solid ghee on the bottom and liquid at the top. If you simply mix, then refrigerated for 2 hours, these fats will stabilize and remain spreadable after you remove it from the fridge. We personally don’t choose to refrigerate our ghee, simply pouring from the jar when it is fluid, or scooping when it is not. The less you expose your ghee to extreme heating and cooling, the longer it lasts. You can simply expect your ghee to act similarly to coconut oil in that in colder weather, it will be solid and in warmer weather, liquid. Similarly, if you store it in a cupboard above your stove, it will usually melt when you are using the oven for any length of time. KEEP YOUR GHEE OUT OF DIRECT SUNLIGHT! It is one of the only ways to spoil ghee. If you ghee turns stark WHITE, it is rancid. 
 
For the GHEEKS:
More talk about grain and melting points of ghee-fats.
http://krishikosh.egranth.ac.in/bitstream/1/57847/1/dt109.pdf
 
 
12. Will ghee raise my cholesterol levels?
 
While each body is different, and the health of the liver and the gallbladder come into play when talking about the digestion of fats and cholesterol, in general, the answer is no. For most, the benefits of ghee are great, and evidence shows that pure ghee supplemented diets (absent vegetable oils such as canola), have positive effects on the heart. The studies below support the Ayurvedic assertion that ghee is protective for the body in multiple ways.
 
For the GHEEKS:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3215354/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9212571/

 
13. I bought my ghee from Amazon and it was leaking, what do I do?
 
We use FBA fulfillment, so Amazon is responsible for the condition of the jars when they arrive to you. If anything is damaged in transit, due to inappropriate packing, Amazon will replace or refund your jar. We do everything we can on our side to prevent this.  If Amazon fails to honor your refund, contact us right away so we can make this right for you.
We ask that you allow us to correct this problem, rather than posting a negative review on Amazon. We know you will love our product when it arrives safely!

 
14. Do I need to refrigerate my ghee?
 
The short answer is no. Ghee is very stable, and when kept at room temp range, out of the sun, it remains good for at least a year, if not 2 years from opening. We recommend 6 months from opening, because human behavior dictates that you may accidentally contaminate your ghee with a drop of water, or little kid fingers dipping into jars, so use basic common sense, keep your ghee clean and dry, and it will serve you well throughout your jar! KEEP GHEE OUT OF DIRECT SUNLIGHT (which will turn it white and rancid)

 
15. Is your ghee cultured? What is cultured ghee?
 
We go through great lengths and expense to insure we have a supply of cultured butter. We use companies with a culturing process most similar to the one described in Vedic texts (as close as you can get while meeting US dairy regulations). They use live cultures to first turn the cream into a type of yogurt, or curd. They let the magic happen in a large vat, overnight, before churning slowly in a slow churn. The result is a super-flavorful butter, which makes excellent tasting ghee. Since the process of making ghee dictates that it must be cooked, and heated over 200F to become ghee, any live cultures are killed in the process. However, don’t dismiss the benefits of these killed bacteria. A 2010 study shows that bacteria killed by heat can also have beneficial effects on the body, in effect, making our ghee PREBIOTIC! So, by using cultured butter, we are not only helping your ghee to be much tastier, but also adding a benefit not found in uncultured (most other ghee on the market) ghee. This is why the sages found that culturing was of vital importance. THIS is what makes ghee so wonderfully digestible! See the study below on the benefits retained in killed probiotics.
 
For the GHEEKS:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20403231
 
16. Is your ghee grassfed?
 
Yes. Our ghee comes from butter made from cows grazed on pasture year-round. Our ghee is 95% grassfed and third party certified through the Truly Grassfed® program. It is not 100% due to humane standards allowing for grain feeding for newly birthed cow-mommies, who might need more boost for healthy milk production. They are year round pastured. This is a supplement to ensure they are happy and never ever hungry! Grains are NON-GMO Verified® and used rarely. 

17. What breeds of Cows are used to make the butter source?
 
For Ahara Ghee® brand,  farms have Jersey, Guernsey, Holstein primarily. If you choose the MahaGhee, all the milk comes from Traditional humpbacked Indian Gir Cows. 

 
18. Why is your ghee more expensive than other ghee on the market?
 
This business was started as a way to give high quality ghee to Ayurvedic patients. In developing our business, there was a fair amount of idealism. The brand was built on principles that we truly believe it: Impeccable sourcing, Artisan culturing, highest possible grass-fed status, organic and kosher designations, and small-batch, flame cooking. We set out to make ghee as close to the Vedic recommendations as possible, and never ever sacrificing taste for price. We keep our margins as small as possible to operate, so that you get this ghee at the best possible price, while we still get to remain in business. Once you taste it, this may be less of a question ;-)

 
19. Is your ghee made from A2 Milk?
 
This is a really interesting question. A2 milk is a designation relating to the casein protein. Some newer studies show there may be a link between digestibility of whole milk and the type of casein protein produced by the breed of cow. Our herds do include a small number of Holsteins, so the cream that supplies our butter is not purely A2. That said, there is very little casein in butter to begin with, and once we are finished with our patent pending quadruple filtration process, there is no detectable casein in the ghee at all, rendering the question of A2 vs Non-A2 as it applies to ghee, irrelevant. Essentially, it is a super good question to ask of your milk you are drinking, but not applicable when we distill down to the pure fat. For PURE A2 ghee (kind of a misnomer, since it has no A2 casein proteins) Choose the MahaGhee from our offerings. 

 
20. I am lactose / casein intolerant. Can I eat your ghee?
 
We are so happy you asked! The overall answer is a resounding YES! We test our ghee periodically, for lactose and casein. At no point was either ever detected in any of our flavors. If you have a TRUE ALLERGY to milk products, however, you may be sensitive to nano traces and therefore should avoid any milk derived products. While we are considered lactose, casein and dairy free, we don’t play with true milk allergies, which are rare. Most are intolerance to lactose or casein, in which case, we are here to butter you up!

 
21. Is your Ghee made in a facility that produces nuts?
 
We share NO equipment with nuts, nor is there any airborn processing. We are not a certified nut-free facility, however, 

 
22. Is your ghee gluten free? Safe for celiac disease?
 
Our kitchen is gluten free. We do not use anything in our ghee that contains gluten in any way, nor is gluten used for other products in our kitchen. You should feel safe, as a Celiac, to consume our ghee. We are in the process of a GF certification. 

 
23. Is your ghee organic?
 
Ahara Ghee certified all products in our line Organic, in 2015. In 2020, we made the tough decision to drop Organic while facing challenging supply chain issues in sourcing butter. But we are are Glycosphate-Free, and Animal welfare certified®. See our post about that here https://iloveghee.com/blogs/announcements/we-are-raising-our-standards-and-you-can-too

 
Please feel free to contact us with any further questions !