This is far from our first ghee ever, but it is the first one to get a writeup! This is a fantastic ghee- rich, sweet-smelling and beautiful in food, regardless of spice or heat content.
When I fist saw this in the shop, I thought I recognised the language printed on the label. My father is from India's southern-most state, Kerala and sure enough, that's where it's from! Fun fact: Kerala's predominant language, Malayalam, is the world's longest palindrome! How fitting that the IBC's first ghee review is one from Kerala.
For some fun and context, here's a back-focussed photo of me in Kerala in 1992, harassing some goats with my brother and my cousin. Dairy animals abound in India and, though it is legal in Kerala for cattle to be slaughtered for consumption purposes, most of our relatives kept at least a cow purely for the milk. My brother and I were insanely picky eaters when we were younger and I remember turning my nose up at fresh milk from our family cow because 'it's warm'. I was a complete idiot.
Milma Ghee Appreciation
Ghee Break Down
Appreciation Date: 08/08/2020
Country of Origin: India
Point of Procurement: Lulu Hypermarket Al Barsha, Dubai
Purchase State: Room temp
Milk: Cow, pasteruised
Salt Content: None added
Milk Fat Content: 100%
Ingredients: Milk fat
Declared Possible Allergens: None, but cow milk
Company Website: https://www.milma.com
Butter Evaluation
In which we discuss Milma's cow ghee.
As with butter, the formula shall remain the same with a few slight differences. For ease of portioning out, I keep ghee in the fridge. This may be sacrilegious to some but there is nothing worse than having a kitchen sporadically sprinkled in oily residue from un-caught drops of ghee or oil. No thank you.
The foil lids are never easy to puncture, so you're likely to start your sprinkling even before you've enjoyed any of it.
This is 100% pure cow milk ghee and it's reflected in the colour:
That's just beautiful. Our other standard ghee is a 50/50 cow/buffalo milk mix and it does not have this rich orangey advert screaming BETA CAROTENE. It's a lovely addition.
The aroma of this stuff, even when rock-hard from the chilling is somewhere between toffee, caramel and a dessert I had when I was a kid. I can't put my finger on it but this stuff is intoxicating. I've been known to unscrew the lid and take a deep breath just to calm down.
As with almost all ghees, the flavour is basically milk fat with the added aroma. It's beautiful in south Indian cooking because it's so sweetly aromatic that it can hold its own with bold spices such as puli, cardamom or coconut. In fact, using this as your fat base for a coconut masala is just about as decadent as you're going to get!
Final Rundown
Milma is a fantastic cow ghee that is extremely sweetly aromatic. It's a bold ghee that will hold its own, even with chilies and strong spices. Use modestly or not if you like happiness.
Colour: BETA CAROTENE
Aroma: Toffee caramel
Taste: Happiness, clean, rich but not fatty
Comments