the making of empress of ghee

Our founder Surya grew up watching her mother make ghee in the kitchen. Her mother is an avid cook with a knack for making homemade food — growing up, Surya watched her mother make yogurt, bread, paneer, and ghee, of course — from scratch.

Flash forward ten years and Surya was diagnosed with an autoimmune condition that led her to cut out dairy and gluten. Finding few options in the grocery store, she dove into learning to cook the basics for herself.

Quickly, she ran into one large roadblock: cooking oil. Her favorite olive oil oxidized and smoked at high temperatures. Avocado oil, while stable up to high temperatures, was unreliable: many of those at the store are cut with inferior vegetable oils.

Enter ghee. One afternoon, Surya was cooking, scanning her kitchen for suitable cooking oil when she asked herself: what about ghee? She knew it was possible to make ghee at home, but wasn’t sure if her stomach would be able to tolerate it.

She made it anyway, and hasn’t stopped since. Ghee provides a rich, buttery taste that conventional oils don’t. It can cook up to super high temps with oxidizing and turning rancid.

When Surya met Morgan, they shared many meals together in the kitchen. Surya loved sharing her familial favorites — spiced mung beans, kheema, sabji and more — with Morgan. When she introduced Morgan to ghee, he was blown away and asked her to show him how to make it. One day, Morgan came over while Surya was making a large batch of ghee. The sun was setting on their midsized Montana town and Surya said, “you know, I would love to bring this to Bozeman.”

Two months later, the pair nearly sold out of ghee jars at their first farmer’s market. They added new flavors to their rolodex: cult favorite masala and delicate saffron. The continue to connect with their communities at farmer’s markets, where they spread their love of ghee and holistic health.

Thanks for reading, friend!

-Surya & Morgan

Morgan’s first ghee batch!