Ghee

We Indians do not always use ghee in our cooking, because we, too, are concerned about our diet. But its nutty flavor, the result of gentle browning, is the key taste in many curries, and often even a mere tablespoon is enough to provide succulence. Since the Vedic times (over 6,000 years ago) of the Indo-Aryan culture, ghee has played a role in many facets of Hinduism, including fueling the eternal flame associated with birth, marriage, and death. Ghee evolved thousands of years ago, when