Why Bilona Ghee (A2 Desi Ghee) Is So Expensive | So Expensive Food | Insider Business
barish CH and his mother shushila continuously churn these Bonas for up to an hour if they stop for even a second this batch of ghee will be ruined Bona ghee is clarified butter that's hand churned using a certain type of wooden beater called a bona and made from the milk of South Asian cow breeds in general ghee is more expensive than traditional butter and in India ghee made this way can cost over three times as much as factory made ghee but there are plenty willing to pay the price so why is this ghee risen to the top and why is it so expensive ghee is a staple of South Asian cooking it's commonly eaten on chipati lentils rice and [Music] more because of the clarification process G's flavor is nuttier and more concentrated than butter but aside from taste there are practical reasons to choose ghee over butter without any milk solids ghee can be stored for a longer time without spoiling plus it has a higher smoke point than butter which means it's better suited for cooking at high temperatures making this nutty nutritious ghee requires time specialized equipment and happy cows barish's process starts at 5:30 in the morning in Rajasthan India where as most butter is made by churning cream this type of ghee is made like cheese by separating CDs and Whey from milk the cream method is mechanized and is what's used commercially to make a lot of ghee quickly whereas The Bona method is done completely by hand on barish's farm he and his team need 30 hours to produce just 1 kgam of [Music] ghee good ghee requires a good pot which barish must select with his ears according to barish a good pot Rings like a bell while a lowquality one has invisible floors that make it sound flat the perfect pot is important because the entire process from raw milk to Kei takes place inside it after heating the milk from morning to night and then letting it cool until the next day he adds a starter to the milk to jump start the curdling process [Music] [Music] the ghee is left to culture fermenting the milk in this way allows the ghee to develop complex flavors not commonly found in other types of butter using rope and a post for stability barish and shushila twist The Bona back and forth to agitate the CD it's me The Bona method goes back thousands of years and the tools haven't changed much it only takes around 2 hours to make a bona by hand from shishan wood but you have to be in the right place to buy one barish sources new Bonas from Elders in the [Music] village while The Bona is in use the wood absorbs oil from the gy this helps to preserve the tool and extend its life it takes about an hour of continuous turning to separate the butter from the buttermilk the result of all that churning is this mcon or cultured butter to turn it into to ghee barish Heats it up again boiling the butter clarifies it which means the liquid is separate from the milk solids the longer he cooks the ghee the nuttier the aroma and deeper its golden color The Sweet Spot is usually around 1 to 2 hours what's left in the pot is bona G ready to be shipped out and eaten but only after a blessing from shushila barish and his family have made ghee for Generations but in 2020 he took his business online in 2022 the global ghee Market peaked at $ 49.2 billion some estimates expect that number to hit $ 73.5 billion by 2028 and demand for a product like barish's continues to grow as well even when it can cost around three times as much as the industrial version that's because his ghee comes from these indigenous cows all of these cows are South Asian breeds popularly known as Dy cows a Dy cow produces about 10 to 12 L of milk a day that's half as much as industrial cows and nothing can happen if a CF isn't around but barish says the quality of their milk makes up for the lower yield takes over 20 L of milk to make just one liter of ghee so when demand is high barish buys milk from other farmers in the village to keep up ghee made using barish's methods from the milk of indigenous cows is often marketed as A2 thisy ghee A2 refers to a specific type of protein found in milk beta casine while milk from Western dairy cows contains both A1 and A2 beta casine milk from their sea cows only contains the A2 protein in researching what this difference means a 2016 study found that A2 milk was easier for people with lactose intolerance to digest for many of barish's customers the difference between A1 and A2 G is an aurvedic and religious one Bish's biggest orders come from cities Nationwide but they are a long way from his remote Village but despite the logistical challenges barish likes the work [Music] [Music]