Ghee — a basic part of Indian cuisine

Dear Lynne: It seems that a lot of recipes for Indian food call for "ghee" instead of cooking oil. Can I use oil in its place?

— Angela

Dear Angela: You can substitute vegetable oil in most recipes calling for ghee. Use an oil with a high smoke point, like canola or peanut. That said, I think you should take a leap and try making your own ghee. It has a nutty, meaty flavor that adds a lot to a dish.

At its most basic, ghee is melted butter taken over the top. Where butter burns at low temperatures, ghee does not. The butter is slow-cooked, so all its water evaporates and its milk solids — which are what burn easily — separate from the butter's clear golden "oil." This is ghee, which holds for months in the refrigerator.

This is how to make about 1 2/3 cups of ghee:

In a heavy-bottomed pan, melt 1 pound of butter over low heat, scooping away the foam at the top. Keep scooping until the oil is completely clear, taking care not to burn the solids that will inevitably fall to the bottom. It should take 20 to 30 minutes to finish separating a pound of butter. When the oil is mostly clear, strain the oil through cheesecloth into a clean, dry jar. Store in the refrigerator.

Use the ghee as you would any other oil. Indians often finish a dish with a drizzle or a scoop at the last minute.

The following dish, inspired by Indian cookbook author Raghavan Iyer, provides a simple way of using ghee. The idea is that spices blossom when sauteed in the rich-flavored ghee, which in turn seasons cooked foods.

Lynne Rossetto Kasper hosts "The Splendid Table," American Public Media's weekly national show. The program airs at 2 p.m. Sundays on KUOW-FM (94.9). Contact Kasper at www.splendidtable.org.