Clarifying Butter

Fats and Oils in South Asia

A variety of oils and fats are used extensively across South Asian cooking, and their uses have a rich history. These include buffalo milk ghee and butter in India, yak butter in Bhutan, mustard oil in Bangladesh, sheep fat in Afghanistan, and coconut oil in Sri Lanka. All of them have entered South Asian foodways within multiple social contexts, be it religion, regional availability, class, gender and/or colonial rule. Specific fats carry spiritual significance and are consumed for medicinal purpose, and—of course—are also featured greatly in cuisine in multiple ways.

Medicinal and Religious Use of Fats

Ayurveda, a traditional medicine system from the subcontinent that is more than two thousand years-old and is tied to Hinduism, considers the mind-body connection, or dosha, which appears in three forms: vata, pitta, and kapha. Choosing certain foods can either aid or detract from harmony (which leads to good health) depending on one’s dosha. Certain fats, therefore, can be a source of nourishment, a solvent, and a cure. The spiritual and medicinal qualities of ghee (clarified butter made from buffalo milk) were attributed to the sanctity and purity of buffalos or cows, and their importance in Hindu religion. Ghee is incorporated into religious offerings and festival foods; greasy laddoos (a deep-fried spherical sweet) are served as a staple in Hindu temples during Durga Puja and other major Hindu holidays. Fats are upheld as nutritious, beneficial, and ceremonial in many areas of South Asian cuisine, starkly contrasting with the more contemporary, negative Western perspective on fats.

Fats in South Asian Street Food

Fatty, fried street-foods are served all year-round, born from the need to supply cheap, energy-rich foods to the general public. Furthermore, becoming a street food vendor is a viable job for migrants from the rural countryside. Street food is usually fried, as it can be cooked quickly, and ghee and vegetable oils are inexpensive and readily available. Today, the streets of Delhi (India) are famous for their deep-fried pakoras, vada pao and fried breads like poori and luchi, while in Old Dhaka (Bangladesh) one finds fragrant, ghee-drizzled biriyanis and deep-fried samuchas. Areas of Karachi and Lahore (Pakistan) boast streets filled with tandoors, baking naan, roti and chapati brushed with plenty of ghee. Street food is also influenced by religion; deep-fried jalebis and fried kebabs signal the arrival of Ramadan, and ghee-laden halwas are served for the Muslim festivities of Eid-ul-Fitr and Eid-ul-Azha.

The History behind South Asian Fats and Oils

The choice of fat and oil in the subcontinent is influenced by social, environmental and historical factors. Ghee became popular under Hinduism and Mughal rule (16th-19th centuries) because the sacredness of cows; ghee is also a product of the climate, creating a longer shelf-life in a warm climate. Lard is used in regions of India, including Goa and Pondicherry, due to Portuguese and French colonial rule. Mustard seed oil—extracted from mustard seeds—are readily harvested in the Bengal region due to its rich, well-drained soil where mustard plants grow well, is a Bengali staple. Sheep and yak fat are commonly used in mountainous Afghanistan and Bhutan respectively, where they are domesticated for labor, fur and milk. Coconuts, widely-grown in Sri Lanka, supply oil and cream that enrich their curries; Tibetan-Chinese influence is also prevalent, leading to the fried creations of Indo-Chinese chow mien and Nepali sel roti.