Should you fry your paranthas in butter or ghee? | The Times of India (2024)

With the winter already here, parantha has become everybody’s comfort food. Nothing can beat maa ke hath ke garma garam paranthe with butter over it. But with homemade parathas comes the dilemma whether to pan fry them with butter or ghee?

People have their preferences but if you are a health conscious and want to know which is healthier, read this.

After being labelled as a culprit for weight-gain and termed unhealthy for years, ghee has finally made a comeback in the Indian kitchen.

Ghee helps to keep your gut healthy, has good fats and is great for skin. Ghee can also help increase good cholesterol and lower the bad cholesterol.

The traditional butter made by churning milk cream is light and healthy. But the butter that you get in markets nowadays is an emulsion of milk fat in water with milk protein as an emulsifying agent. This butter is processed and has added salt.

Ghee is unprocessed fat and contains omega 3 fatty acid along with vitamin A. While fortified butter may only contain vitamin A.

Ghee is used to fry pooris, paranthas and make halwa. Using ghee for frying paranthas is a better option because ghee has a higher smoking point, which makes it a better choice as compared to butter for frying paranthas.

When buying ghee, make sure the label doesn’t read ‘vegetable ghee’. Vegetable ghee is not traditional ghee and does not offer many health benefits.

Homemade ghee can be stored at room temperature for three months in an airtight container and away from direct sunlight.

Butter is usually stored in a refrigerator during most parts of the year. Storing it in the fridge is the right way to increase its shelf life.