Ghee around the world: niter kibbeh, smen, samneh and more

Niter kibbeh is Ethiopia's spiced clarified butter: butter simmered with onion, garlic, ginger and spices such as fenugreek, cumin and Ethiopian basil, then strained. It is a cousin of ghee, not a twin. Across Africa, the Middle East and Asia, at least half a dozen cultures clarify butter, and each does it differently.

Clarifying is an old way of keeping milk fat from spoiling, and many cultures arrived at it on their own. Each added its own twist: spices in Ethiopia, salt and time in Morocco, a long simmer in India. Knowing the differences helps you cook these dishes well and choose the right fat for them.

At a glance

• Niter kibbeh (Ethiopia; tesmi in Eritrea) is clarified butter simmered with aromatics and spices.
• Smen (Morocco and the Maghreb) is salted butter aged in sealed jars until it smells like blue cheese.
• Samneh or samn (the Levant, the Gulf, Yemen and Egypt) is clarified butter central to rice dishes and sweets.
• Ghee is simmered until its milk solids brown lightly; in the bilona method the butter is first churned from curd.
• French clarified butter is skimmed before it browns, so it tastes milder.

Is niter kibbeh the same as ghee?

No. Both begin as butter and end as clarified fat, but niter kibbeh is simmered with aromatics and spices, which change its flavour, colour and use. Ghee is plain.

Ethiopian cooks gently cook butter with onion, garlic and ginger, then add spices and herbs such as fenugreek, cumin, turmeric, korarima (Ethiopian cardamom), besobela (a sacred basil) and koseret, a fragrant herb of the verbena family. The butter is strained and kept as a golden, perfumed fat.

It is the backbone of Ethiopian cooking. It enriches doro wat, the slow-cooked chicken stew, dresses kitfo, finely minced beef often served raw, and goes into many lentil and vegetable dishes. On the many fasting days of the Ethiopian Orthodox calendar, when animal foods are avoided, cooks use a spiced vegetable oil called yeqimem zeyet instead.

What is smen in Moroccan cooking?

Smen is salted butter left to age and ferment in sealed jars, from a few weeks to a year or more, until it smells pungent, often compared to blue cheese. Some cooks simmer and strain the butter first; others age it as it is, sometimes with thyme or oregano for flavour.

A small spoon goes a long way. Moroccans stir it into couscous, add it to stews and spread it on bread, and older smen is prized for its smoother, deeper flavour. A 2018 study of traditional smen detected 183 volatile compounds, mainly acids, esters and ketones, which helps explain its strong, cheesy perfume. You may also hear of a jar buried when a daughter was born and opened at her wedding; that is a much-loved legend rather than a documented custom.

What is samneh used for in Arab cooking?

Samneh (also samn or samna) is the clarified butter of the Arab world, made from cow's or sheep's milk butter and used where flavour matters most. It finishes rice, enriches harees, the Gulf's slow-cooked porridge of wheat and meat, and is spooned over Jordan's mansaf, lamb cooked in a dried-yoghurt sauce and served on rice. It is also central to sweets such as ma'amoul, baklava and knafeh.

Methods vary by place. Jordanian and Palestinian samneh baladi is often simmered with a little bulgur, which soaks up the last milk solids, and sometimes with a spice mix. In Egypt, samna baladi is the classic fat for feteer meshaltet, a flaky layered pastry.

How do Persian, French and Indian clarified butters differ?

Mainly in how long the butter is cooked and what goes in with it. In Iran, roghan-e kermanshahi, from the Kermanshah region, is a strongly aromatic clarified butter traditionally made from sheep's milk butter and prized in rice and sweets. In France, beurre clarifié is butter melted gently and skimmed of its milk solids before they colour, so it tastes mild and clean. In South Asia, ghee is cooked further, until the water has gone and the milk solids turn golden-brown, which gives its nutty, caramel notes.

The international food standards body, Codex Alimentarius, describes ghee as a product of milk, cream or butter made by removing almost all water and non-fat solids, with an especially developed flavour and physical structure. In India, the bilona method adds one more step: the butter is churned from curd rather than cream, as our bilona explainer describes.

How is ghee different from other clarified butters?

All ghee is clarified butter, but not all clarified butter is ghee. Clarified butter only needs its water and milk solids removed. Ghee is cooked longer, so the solids toast lightly before they are strained out, adding flavour and colour. Both handle high heat; ghee's smoke point is about 250°C (482°F), which is why it is used for frying and for tadka, spices bloomed in hot fat. Our piece on why tadka works explains why spices and fat belong together, which is also the logic of niter kibbeh.

Can niter kibbeh be made with ghee?

Yes, as a quick home version. Starting from ghee saves the clarifying step, so you only need to infuse it.

1. Melt 1 cup (240 ml) of ghee over the lowest heat in a small heavy pan.
2. Add 2 tablespoons of finely chopped onion or shallot, 2 crushed garlic cloves and 1 teaspoon of grated ginger. Cook gently for 5 minutes without browning.
3. Add half a teaspoon each of fenugreek seeds, cumin seeds and turmeric, 4 lightly crushed green cardamom pods, 1 teaspoon of dried basil and half a teaspoon of dried oregano or thyme, standing in for besobela and koseret.
4. Keep it at a bare simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring now and then.
5. Strain through a fine sieve lined with muslin and let it cool.
6. Pour into a clean, dry jar and refrigerate.

Handle it like any homemade infused fat. University extension guides on garlic and herb infused oils advise keeping them in the fridge and using them within about four days, or freezing them, because fresh garlic and herbs held in fat can carry a risk of botulism. Freezing small portions in an ice-cube tray is the easy answer.

Who should be careful with these butters?

• Milk allergy: all of these are milk fats and may carry traces of milk protein; aged and village-style versions may hold more milk solids. Avoid them unless your allergist says otherwise.
• Saturated fat: like all butter fats, they are mostly saturated fat. If your doctor has asked you to limit it, use them by the teaspoon, as flavour.
• Home fermenting: if you try making smen, follow a trusted recipe closely; ageing dairy at room temperature needs clean jars, enough salt and care.
• Infused versions: keep homemade spiced butters in the fridge and use them quickly, as above.

Where our ghee fits in

Our A2 Gir cow ghee is plain cow ghee, made the bilona way and slowly simmered. It is not salted, spiced or aged, so it will not taste like a jar of mature smen or a village samneh, and we would not pretend otherwise. It does make a good base for a quick spiced butter like the one above, for brushing over ma'amoul, or for finishing rice and dal.

The bottom line

Niter kibbeh, smen, samneh, roghan and ghee are cousins, not twins: the same idea of clarified butter, shaped by spices, salt, time and heat. Use plain ghee where a recipe wants a clean, nutty fat, and spice or age it only when the dish asks for that character.

Frequently asked questions

What does niter kibbeh taste like?

Warm, savoury and perfumed. The butter carries the sweetness of cooked onion, the gentle bitterness of fenugreek and herbal notes from Ethiopian basil and koseret, with cardamom and turmeric in the background. A spoonful stirred into lentils or greens tastes richer and more complex than plain butter.

What can I use instead of niter kibbeh?

Ghee infused with onion, garlic, ginger and spices is the closest home substitute, using the method in this article. For a vegan dish, Ethiopian cooks use yeqimem zeyet, a spiced vegetable oil. Plain ghee works in a pinch, but the dish will taste less aromatic.

Is smen the same as ghee?

No. Smen is salted butter aged for weeks, months or even years until it develops a strong, cheesy aroma, and it is used in small amounts for flavour. Ghee is fresh, unsalted and mild by comparison. You can cook with ghee where a recipe asks for smen, but expect a gentler taste.

Can I use ghee for ma'amoul and knafeh?

Yes. Ghee is a common stand-in for samneh in Arab sweets, giving ma'amoul its short, crumbly texture and knafeh its golden crispness. Village samneh can taste stronger and more aromatic, so the result will simply be a little gentler in flavour.

How long does homemade niter kibbeh keep?

If you made it with fresh onion, garlic, ginger or herbs, keep it in the fridge and use it within about four days, or freeze it in small portions for later. That follows extension food-safety advice for homemade garlic and herb infusions, which can support harmful bacteria if mishandled.

Sources

• FAO and Codex Alimentarius, draft revised standard for milk fat products, description of ghee (accessed 2026)
• Iradukunda et al., Aroma profile of a traditionally fermented butter (smen), Journal of Dairy Research, 2018
• NPR, Smen, the Moroccan fermented butter that lasts for years, 2014
• Pacific Northwest Extension, Making garlic- and herb-infused oils at home (PNW 664), 2014