New York entrepreneur Nazia Aibani reinvents ghee on Dr. Oz show

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NEW YORK – New York-based entrepreneur Nazia Aibani is the first Indian American to appear on The Dr. Oz Show, where she features in ghee products she makes for her Gourmet Ghee Company, based in Long Island.

“Whenever I saw a health show, it used to bother me to see an American introduce a product that was from our country,” Aibani told News India Times, in a phone interview.

So about five years ago she re-invented ghee.

“Our ghee is more authentic and flavorful, it’s not watery or runny like most of the other kinds of ghee found in Indian grocery stores,” she said.

“We age the butter we use to make the ghee for three months and then put it through a cooling and heating process after which it is put in an environment where it isn’t cold or hot, letting the ghee absorb antioxidants, vitamins and nutrients without exposing it prematurely to air, light and heat. This process is what makes our ghee thicker and smell like hazelnut which is what ghee is supposed to taste like,” she said.

“We are the only company that uses an ageing process with our ghee before selling it. Ghee that is not aged is nothing more than ‘Bottled Butter without Benefits,’” she adds.

Aibani told News India Times that the Gourmet Ghee Company offers edible ‘Bullet Proof’ shots of gold and silver ghee which helps people lose weight.

“People will usually put a spoonful of ghee in their morning tea, coffee or smoothie and that will keep them full for a while, something which people in India have been doing for years,” she explained.

Along with its original, gold and silver flavors, Gourmet Ghee comes in seven other flavors including:

• Honey & Saffron
• Hemp-THC Free
• Roasted Garlic
• Cardamom
• Black Truffle
• California Medjool Date
• Rose Hip

Ghee is an ancient Indian superfood which is basically clarified butter that has been strained of all milk fat; it is free from lactose and casein and is used to alleviate indigestion, help with weight loss and boost energy naturally.

Ghee can also be used on the skin to keep it smooth and soft as it can be used as a cream to treat acne, burns and scars, says Aibani.

Though ghee has been a major part of her life, starting the Gourmet Ghee Company was never the first thing on Aibani’s mind.

Aibani had been a TV producer for 15 years. She was writing scripts and mingling with celebrities when she decided to become a stay-at-home mom after her first son was born.

However, three years later when her second son was born, she had put on 40 extra pounds and needed to change her life around.

“One day that summer I was standing in my kitchen feeding my baby and saw a bottle of ghee from India my mother had brought back with her. It was the most amazing taste and aroma I have ever experienced. I wondered if butter can be flavored, why couldn’t ghee?” aibani, who is originally from Bombay, Maharashtra, explains on her website.

So she started making ghee at home using her great grandmother’s recipe and it was an instant success as people started to tell the difference between home-made versus store-bought. She herself lost all 40 pounds and even gives it to her kids now.

“My company will always use all natural ingredients, with grass fed butter (milk) to make the best clarified butter with natural antioxidants and vitamins,” she states on her website, adding that they use butter from France to make ghee.

Aibani also told News India Times that her ghee has been used by many celebrities, including Robbie Montogomery, who uses it on her show “Welcome to Sweetie Pies on OWN network” and Alan Floyd, Beyoncé’s manager, as well as in gift bags at Indian film awards and fashion shows along with being center pieces for weddings.

Aibani is trying to entice Indian American celebrities to use her ghee and is also trying to get in onto store shelves so it can be sold to both the Indian and American diasporas.

Her segment on The Dr. Oz Show will air on May 11 at 1 p.m., on FOX.