Is “ghee” clarified butter or beurre noisette?

Question

Reading the Wikipedia pages on “Ghee,” “Clarified butter” and “Beurre noisette” has left me somewhat confused as to what ghee is. Some statements on the pages seem to suggest that it's always clarified butter, some that it's always beurre noisette, others that it can be either of the two depending on regional variations, and then it also might just be something in-between. Can someone clear up my confusion? Does it make (much) of a difference for cooking Indian recipes (I presume not, as ghee plays a less prominent role in a curry than beurre noisette does when it's used as a sauce).

Answer 1

Judging from those Wikipedia articles:

Clarified butter is rendered butter, which means that the solids are removed. Beurre noisette is browned butter, which contains the solids.

Ghee is slightly-browned (it should have a golden color) butter that is rendered. So you melt the butter till it's golden. Then you remove the solids by pouring the top layer into a container. So you have a combination (if you like) of clarified and browned butter.

Answer 2

I was doing some product demonstrations at an Asian market in Portland once, and an Indian vendor treated me to some of his samples brushed with a brownish ghee. I mentioned that I had never seen this kind of ghee before; I was used to a more yellowish, clarified-butter style.

He told me "Yeah, my wife hates it when I make this kind of ghee, but I prefer it because it has more flavor."

So, there's at least some anecdotal evidence that within the Indian ghee can vary in style from a simple clarified butter to a strained brown butter. His was slightly less brown than when I make a brown butter, but I suspect there's a broad continuum.

Answer 3

It definitely varies regionally, but I have always thought: it is both.

It is generally made by clarifying butter, but taking a longer time to do it so the nutty flavors characteristic to beurre noisette are more prominent.