Clarified butter is ordinary butter that has had the milk solids and water removed, leaving behind pure butter fat. The process of removing the milk solids and water increases the smoke point of the butter, making it more suitable for frying or sauteing. In fact, warm clarified butter looks very similar to vegetable oil with its clear golden hue. When cooled, clarified butter becomes opaque. http://www.cookingforengineers.com/article/198/Clarified-Butter-II

Clarified butter is used in many world cuisines, particularly in Indian cooking, where it is known as ghee, and is cooked longer than standard clarified butter to impart a nutty flavor and a browner color. Ghee is not only widely used in Indian recipes, but also as lamp fuel for some religious customs. In Ethiopia, clarified butter is infused with herbs and spices to give it more flavor.

It is easy to learn how to clarify butter, and only a few basic kitchen tools are required.

To clarify butter, you'll need the following items:

• - Unsalted butter, whatever quantity you need. Remember that by clarifying butter you are removing some of the contents, so if you need a specific amount of clarified butter, you'll need a larger amount of regular butter, about 25% more. So, if you need 1 cup of clarified butter, use 1 1/4 cup of unsalted butter.
• - A narrow sauce pan. A wide pan will make the layer of melted butter thin, and it will be more difficult to spoon off the milk solids that rise to the surface. Using a narrow pan will make skimming the solids off easier.
• - A cooking spoon. The spoon will be used to stir the butter as it melts and to skim the milk solids off of the melted butter.
• - A storage container for the clarified butter, such as a glass jar.

Place the sauce pan onto the stove over medium heat and add the butter to the pan. Stir the butter as it melts to keep the melted portion from over-cooking and to break up any clumps of proteins. Simmer the butter lightly for about 5 minutes. This will cause the water in the butter to evaporate or sink to the bottom, and the milk solids to rise to the top.

After about five minutes, shut the heat off and use the spoon to skim the white solids off of the top surface of the butter. Once you have removed the solids from the surface, carefully pour the clarified butter into the storage jar. Do not pour all of the butter into the jar, as some of the solids will have sunken to the bottom of the pan. Continue pouring until all of the clear golden butter fat has been transferred to the jar.

This process can be repeated using the collected clarified butter to produce an even clearer product, but this is generally not required. http://allrecipes.com/HowTo/Clarifying-Butter/Detail.aspx

Clarified butter, while it is still warm, has a clear golden appearance that is similar to vegetable oil. After it cools, it solidifies into a opaque, light yellow material, which is a little harder than solid butter.

Clarified butter is often used when making sauces, particularly those based on a a roux, because the solids and water in regular butter can prevent the sauce components from combining satisfactorily. Clarified butter is often used in sauteing because it can withstand a much higher temperature than regular butter without burning, otherwise known as the smoke point.

Clarified butter can be frozen or refrigerated after it is made, and will store well in an airtight container for several months.