After we make the ghee and allow it to settle and cool down naturally at room temperature, ghee acquires a grainy texture. This lovely texture is intentional and it is not in any way a defect in the product. When you cook with ghee, or use it as a spread on a warm food (like a toast), the grainy texture disappears very quickly. If you like your ghee to be soft and want to use it as a spread on a cold food then simply warm up the ghee for a few seconds on low heat. Ghee was traditionally used as a spread with warm foods (like Indian breads Roti, Chapati, or Naan) rather than on cold foods.
Ghee contains many fatty acids with different melting points. Ghee purchased on the Internet may not have the same homogeneous and smooth texture of store-bought ghee. It is due to the melting and crystallization of fats depending on the weather conditions during transit. This does impact the texture, but there is no other effect on the taste, quality and shelf-life of the ghee.
Ghee is primarily used either as a cooking fat or as a spread on warm foods. In both of these cases, this grainy, runny or separated texture disappears in a matter of seconds. For example, someone who has never seen crystallization of honey in the winter may consider it as a product defect. Upon further investigation we will find that it is perfectly normal.
If you prefer to have a homogenous solid looking ghee then you may perform these steps:
- Take out the ghee in a dry and clean stainless steel pan, melt the ghee on low heat until it’s clear liquid, and carefully pour it back into the jar. Alternatively, you can simply fill a pot with hot water and submerge tightly closed ghee jar in it to melt the ghee. Keep the water level below the lid. The idea is to melt the ghee completely until it is transparent liquid.
- Immediately place the jar in the refrigerator (do not freeze) overnight.
- Take out of the jar from refrigerator next day and leave it on the counter-top. Ghee will stay solid now even at room temperature.
Thank you so much for this tip! I made ghee for the first time and it never fully solidified and was grainy. I thought I did something wrong. I followed your instructions to the letter and now my ghee is soft but solid and perfectly smooth! Thanks again for the great tip.