92
Methods of Preparation of Ghee
cess is 70°C.-80°C. Souring takes place for 20-22 hours for the morning batch and 10.12
hours for the evening.
The morning and evening curds are mixed up the following morning and then churned.
Usually the curd is very sour in flavour but has a firm texture. The volume of water added
during churning varied from 100-200 per cent. The daily yield of butter is accumulated
in dry aluminium or tinned-brass vessels until a quantity enough to yield half to one seer
of ghee is gathered. The collected butter is then washed once or twice with water and
melted into ghee. Butter is boiled over a low fire in tinned-brass vessels until the crackling
sound stops. In some houses the boiling is continued until the casein gets blackened.
The maximum temperature varied from 130°C.- 145°C. There was not much difference in the
texture of the control curd and that of the village, but the flavour was very sour in the case
of the village samples.
Butter used for ghee-making in this area is about one to seven days old. During these
investigations the temperature was 48°C.-38°C.
PREPARATION OF ghee IN HOGENICAL, NORTH SALEM FOREST DIVISION
In the Madras Presidency there are certain areas in the forest divisions where very
large herds of cattle are maintained. Herds of 600-1500 animals are kept in different blocks
very near to Hogenical in the Cauvery River valley, (70 miles by the nearest rail head and 30
miles from the taluk centre). In this area cows are the only milch animal reared. These
animals live only on the grass, tender green leaves and twigs available in the forest, and
get no concentrate as food. They represent typical hill cattle (Kangayam breed), thin,
stunted in size, very poor milkers, not very well-fed or looked after.
The cows yield 2-3 lb. of milk per day and are milked only once in the morning between
6 and 8 a.m. The milking is done in earthen vessels.
Milk is usually processed as follows for making curd, butter and ghee, the only milk pro-
ducts made in this area. Fresh milk within 1-2 hours after milking is brought to boil
vigorously and then allowed to remain over the smouldering remains of the kitchen fire,
when a thick layer of skin is formed on the top. The milk remains hot on the fire till even-
ing, when it is removed and allowed to cool. The boiling is done in an earthen chatti,
which is daily cleaned by boiling water in it. It is seeded with 1-2 oz. of butter milk in the
evening. The most noteworthy point observed in this area is that milk is vigorously boiled,
till a thick skin forms on the top, and also that it is maintained hot for the whole day.
Another point is that the souring vessel is sterilized every day by boiling water in it. If
this was not done, it was reported, the curd developed an undesirable flavour. Milk is
usually soured for 10-12 hours in the night and churned early in the morning. The
texture of the curd is firm and the flavour sweet and good. The volume of water added
during churning varied usually from 50 to 100 per cent of the volume of the curd. Butter
thus obtained is usually stored for anything from 7 to 15 days in earthen chatties. When a
quantity sufficient to yield half a seer or more of ghee is collected, the butter is melted into
ghee over a controlled fire by boiling until the crackling sound stops.
As the method of processing milk followed in these parts gave perfectly satisfactory
sterilization of milk and the time of souring milk was also normal, no control experiment
was conducted. Certain very remarkable observations were made in this area. Though the
cattle owners are very poor and ignorant, and live far away from civilisation without any
outside help or expert advice they make first class curd and butter. In their own way they
are sterilizing milk to a thoroughly satisfactory stage, maintain the quality till it is seeded
and do not sour it longer than circumstances require. One cannot but admire their obser-
vation that unless the souring vessel (earthenware) is washed thoroughly by boiling water
in it every day, the curd obtained is liable to go bad. As a matter of fact except for a
faint barn or smoky flavour, there was no other defect in the samples of their curd examin-
ed by us. The lactose lost and acidity development pointed to an almost pure lactic fer-
mentation. Butter and ghee acidities were as low as could be desired. The colour, flavour
and texture of butter and ghee were the best seen in the Madras Presidency. The caro-
tenoid pigment of the butter and ghee were the highest recorded, and the flavour of the ghee
the best and sweetest recorded by us. The quality is also reflected in the induction period,
the R. M. value, P. V., I. V., and the saponification value, This observation emphasizes the
important relation between feed, storage property, colour, vitamin A and flavour of butter and
ghee. The only serious defect was that the butter was stored in used earthenware
vessels for a long time instead of being melted into ghee at once, and this brought about
degradation in the quality and property of both butter and ghee. The practice is due to the