Making Clarified Butter the Easy Way
How to make clarified butter the easy way and how to use.
Salted and unsalted butter is made up of butterfat, water, and milk solids. Milk solids are the reason butter starts to burn at a lower temperature.
Niter Kibbeh is a traditional spiced clarified butter without any solid milk particles or water. This traditional clarified butter is easy to make and used in daily cooking throughout Ethiopia, South Africa, Algeria, Egypt, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Libya, Morocco, Sudan, and Tunisia.
When you clarify butter you remove milk solids and water, leaving only the butterfat which has a higher smoke point ideal for cooking and sauteing.
Nothing is more versatile than clarified butter since you can use it to broil, grill, sauté, bake, and roast, boil, or stir-fry with countless varieties of aromatic plants and seasonings. Use clarified butter as a dip for fish, lobster, crabs and shrimp. It is also strikingly flavorful on sautéed fish, and vegetables. Clarified butter can be stored it in your refrigerator for about a month.
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 15 min
Yield about 1 ½ cups
Niter Kibbeh clarified butter made the easy way.
Ingredients
2 cups unsalted butter
2 tablespoons cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon sweet paprika
½ teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
¼ teaspoon dried thyme
¼ teaspoon ground fenugreek
¾ teaspoon salt or to taste
Pinch of freshly ground black pepper
Directions
Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium-high heat and bring to boil, stirring constantly.
Reduce heat to low and simmer 6-7 minutes with spices. Remove from the heat and skim the solids from the butter.
When a second foam forms on top of butter, and the butter turns golden brown the Niter Kibbeh is ready. Strain the Niter Kibbeh using cheesecloth and store it in an airtight container.
