ghee clarified and evaporated butter, made from cow or water-buffalo milk, used for cooking in India, especially the north. (The full name is usli ghee, and the spelling ghi is sometimes used.) The butter is melted and then simmered long enough to boil off all the water, during which time it takes on a nutty taste. It is used especially, but not exclusively, for cooking meat, and it is essential for many Indian dishes.
Ghee has considerable religious importance, being so pure that the addition of a bit of it is often enough to upgrade the status of food.
