How to Make Ghee at Home: The Bilona Method, Step by Step

By Thaaro Foods · 8 October 2026

Making ghee at home takes patience more than skill. Here is the traditional bilona method, from milk to golden ghee, with the mistakes to avoid.

Ghee at home is made in two ways. Many families collect the cream (malai) from boiled milk over a week and cook it into ghee. The older bilona way sets the milk as curd, churns it into butter and then cooks the butter. It takes longer and gives ghee its deep, nutty aroma.

What you need

Full-fat milk (cow or buffalo) and a spoon of curd to set it
A large pot or matka for churning, and a wooden churner (bilona/mathani) or a hand blender
A heavy-bottomed kadhai, a steel strainer and a clean, dry glass jar

Step 1: Boil and set the curd

Boil the milk and let it cool until just warm. Stir in a spoon of curd, cover and leave it in a warm place overnight, or 8–10 hours, until it sets firm.

Step 2: Churn the curd

Add a little cold water to the curd and churn. With a wooden bilona this takes time and steady arms; with a blender, a few minutes in short bursts. Soon lumps of white butter (makkhan) float to the top of the buttermilk (chaas).

Step 3: Collect and wash the butter

Lift out the butter with your hands or a slotted spoon. Rinse it once or twice in cold water to wash out the buttermilk. Keep the chaas: it is lovely to drink with a pinch of salt and roasted cumin.

Step 4: Cook the butter slowly

Put the butter in a heavy kadhai on low heat. It melts, foams and bubbles as the water cooks out.
Stir now and then. After 20–30 minutes, depending on the quantity, the bubbling quietens, the liquid turns clear and golden, and the milk solids at the bottom turn light brown.
Take it off the heat as soon as it smells nutty and the solids are golden brown. A minute too long and the ghee tastes burnt.

Step 5: Strain and store

Let it cool for a few minutes, then strain through a fine steel strainer or muslin into a dry glass jar. Leave the lid off until it cools completely, then close it. Store it as described in how to store ghee.

Common mistakes

High heat: the solids burn before the water is gone.
Water in the jar: even a drop spoils ghee. Dry everything.
Leaving buttermilk in the butter: wash the butter well, or the ghee foams for longer and can taste sour.

Why it takes so much milk

Curd is mostly water, and butter is only a small part of it; ghee is what is left after the butter's own water cooks away. That is why bilona ghee needs a lot of milk for each jar, and why it costs more than ghee made from cream.

No time to churn? Thaaro makes A2 cow ghee and buffalo ghee this way in Nijamnagar, near Alwar. See our process.

Questions

How long does it take to make ghee at home?

Setting the curd takes overnight; churning and cooking the butter take about an hour, depending on the quantity.

What is the difference between bilona ghee and malai ghee?

Bilona ghee is made from butter churned out of curd; malai ghee is made by cooking cream collected from boiled milk.

How do I know the ghee is ready?

The bubbling slows, the liquid turns clear and golden, the solids at the bottom turn golden brown, and it smells nutty.