Top 7 Best Ghee in India 2021 (Kapiva, Vedic Ghee, and more)

Ruchi Wadhwa is a certified Nutritionist with a keen interest in Ayurvedic sciences. She has a wholesome, holistic, and sustainable approach to nutrition. You can reach out to her on Facebook, Instagram, or quora.

Since time immemorial, ghee has been lauded and regarded divine in our culture because of its countless uses that are not only exclusive to cooking and personal use, but is also used in many of our rituals and temples.

Ghee contains a saturated fat called short-chain fatty acids, that are known to provide energy to the body and regulates digestion, and help get rid of stubborn fat. It also lubricates joints, nourishes the skin, boosts fertility, and more. Furthermore, ghee is regarded ideal for people that have diabetes because it can regulate blood sugar level.

It has a very high smoke point of 250-degree Celsius which means it can be used for high cooking and will not break down up to that temperature. For your reference, an average oil has a smoke point of 150-degree Celsius.

Since India is a tropical country, it was hard to preserve the butter at room temperature, so, clarification was done to butter to make the ghee. Ghee and butter can be used interchangeably but there are many areas where ghee wins over butter. 

The smoke point of ghee is higher than the butter, which means it is more suited for high-heat cooking. You can easily deep fry and cook a more delicious puri or pakoras with ghee.

Ghee can be heated up to 250-degree Celsius, while, butter can be up to 176-degree Celsius. Compared to butter that contains traces of lactose, ghee does not have lactose or casein which makes it easily consumable by people who are lactose intolerant. Moreover, when it comes to freshness, ghee can remain fresh up to 3 months whereas butter can lose its freshness just after a few days.

There are many things that you need to consider before hunting on that one bottle. From the milk source to the ingredients, we have played our part in researching, reviewing, and gathering all the necessary information you need to know. Our expert, nutritionist, Ruchi Wadhwa, will also give you some insights based on her professional background.

Cow milk is more famous than buffalo milk because it is suitable for everyone - from children to the older generation. Cow ghee is rich in minerals, vitamins, protein, and calcium. It is easy to digest because it is lower in fats and has fewer calories. Some findings say cow ghee also helps in weight loss. 

Buffalo ghee, on the other hand is rich in magnesium, calcium, and phosphorous. Buffalo milk has more fat and calories than cow's milk, hence, it is difficult to digest. Buffalo ghee is usually used by those who are engaged in heavy physical activities like kushti, wrestling, and other kinds of sports. 

Whey and casein are the two major types of milk proteins. Further, casein is divided into two categories that are A and B casein. Today, A1 and A2 milk types are famous terms used to describe the quality, nonetheless, they are the sub-types of B casein. Originally, cows produce the A2 type but these days A1 are now also available.

Some researches claim that American cows like Jersey and Holstein Friesian contain A1 type of milk. This type produces a compound called B casomorphin 7 (BCM7) which can increase the risk of arteriosclerosis, it is a process which restricts the blood flow to one's organs and tissues, and can suppress the immune system. 

On the other hand, most Indian cows produce only A2 type of milk that is safe for consumption. To give you a reference, human milk also has an A2 type of B casein. You may select desi cows like Tharparkar, Sahiwal, Red Sindhi, and Rathi as they are highly recommended because they are known to have a high level of Omega 3 that cleans the cholesterol deposits of the blood vessel. 

There are many methods to prepare ghee. However, according to Ayurveda, the Bilona method is the only traditional method to extract pure ghee because the churning done during the process is bidirectional. Milk is heated in earthen pots and wooden vessels are used to extract the butter.

This traditional ghee is used as a medicine in Ayurveda and it helps improve eyesight, cures dryness, boasts anti-aging effects, regulates digestive system, and many more. In addition, ghee from the Bilona method has a longer shelf life. It can last for years if stored properly in a tight glass jar.

To meet the rapid demand, companies these days use machines that churn hundreds of kilograms of ghee in a few minutes. Whereas the Bilona method is a tedious process since 30 kilograms of curd is used to obtain 1-kilogram pure ghee. Unlike the Bilona method, machine-produced ghee has a shorter shelf-life and is hard to digest.

There are a few ingredients that you should strictly avoid. Vanaspati, hydrogenated vegetable oil, and palm oil are some of them. Still, in India, palm oil is commonly used because it is cheap and has the same smell, taste, color, and texture as desi ghee. Trans-fats found in the palm oil badly affects cholesterol as it increases the bad cholesterol and decreases the good cholesterol. 

Since cooking in India is usually done at a higher temperature of about 180 degrees, vanaspati ghee is not really suitable for it because it has a lower smoke point and it breaks down after 110-120 degrees. 

Anything cooked beyond the smoke point can produce free radicals that can cause many health problems such as cardiovascular and inflammatory disease, cataract, and more. So, it is better to look back at the ingredients list before buying the ghee.

If you're a lazy ghee eater then you can choose a glass container with a tight screw-on lid as it can prevent the moisture and will increase the shelf life and quality of the ghee. 

However, the plastic ones are common in the market today because it reduces the production cost. Be wary that those that come in a plastic container have a shorter shelf life! So, if you're a frequent ghee-eater then you have the option to buy the plastic one but be ready to lose its authenticity.

Brands like Vanalaya, Farm Naturelle, Shree Radhey, and more are not very famous in the Indian market but they provide good quality ghee. So, scroll down and check.

1. According to AMA, saturated fats should provide less than 10% of total calories. Therefore, ghee is only healthy when used in moderation with other oils such as sunflower, olive, or sesame oil, etc., that are rich in essential fatty acids (EFA), mono unsaturated fatty acids (MUFA), and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA). 
2. Use ghee on chappatis and rice 'after' boiling as it reduces its glycemic index, improving its digestibility. 
3. Ghee is essential for the absorption of 'Curcumin,' an active ingredient of turmeric, known for its anti-viral and anti-inflammatory properties. Therefore, you should add ghee to turmeric milk along with Cayenne pepper to get its maximum benefit. 
4. Consuming 1 teaspoon (tsp) of ghee with warm milk at night or 1 tsp of ghee in the morning empty stomach helps regulate bowel moments and relieve constipation.

If you're looking for other healthy oils, look no further! Check out the links below to help yourself. 

If you can afford to buy the ghee, it is better to have a quality one. Although quality products can be expensive, the apt approach would be to eat less rather than eating unhealthy. The supply-demand circle will adjust if many people started to buy quality organic ghee made by the traditional Bhartiya method.

Author: Nikhil Deora