Place one pound of butter in a small pot. For clarified butter, set over low heat, melt and heat butter until it slowly bubbles, foam rises and milk solids sink, and then remove from heat. To make ghee, follow the above steps, but when milk solids sink, keep heating them until they turn a light brown and the butter has a richer, golden colour. Now, in both cases, let butter sit a minute, and then skim off foam on top. Don’t worry if a bit remains, you’ll strain it away.

Line a fine sieve with two layers of cheesecloth and set over a jar. Carefully pour butter through the sieve, stopping when you reach the milky solids in the bottom of the pot.

Use warm clarified butter or ghee as dip for seafood, such as crab or lobster, or drizzle on hot popcorn. With the milk solids gone, which can burn when cooked too long, you can now also use clarified butter and ghee like you would cooking oil. Sear meats and fish in it, sauté vegetables in it, cook eggs with it, or use in Indian-style dishes. Once cooled, cover and store clarified butter and ghee in the refrigerator and use within three months.