FSSAI CERTIFIED . LAB-VERIFIED ~90% A2 . NBAGR BADRI BREED . MAITOLI VILLAGE . BERINAG
Bilona is the slow, hand-churned way ghee was made for centuries — curd, not cream; wooden churner, not machine. Here’s each step, why it yields so little, and how to spot the real thing.
The bilona (or ‘valona’) method makes ghee from cultured curd, not from cream. Whole A2 milk is boiled, cooled, set into curd overnight, then hand-churned with a wooden churner (madhani) to lift out butter, which is slow-cooked into ghee. It’s the route described in Ayurvedic tradition — and it’s the reason real bilona ghee tastes and feels different.
Starting from curd instead of cream isn’t tradition for its own sake — the overnight fermentation does real work. As the milk sets into dahi, friendly bacteria develop and begin breaking down lactose, which is part of why bilona ghee sits so gently on the stomach and is nearly lactose-free. That same culturing builds the deep, nutty aroma and grainy character you notice in a good ghee — flavour you simply don’t get from quickly melting machine-separated cream. In short, the curd step is where much of bilona ghee’s digestibility and taste are actually made.
Wooden madhani churning curd (image coming soon)
| Step | What happens |
|---|---|
| 1. Milk | Fresh A2 milk from grass-fed desi cows, boiled gently |
| 2. Curd | Cultured and set overnight into dahi |
| 3. Churn | Hand-churned with a wooden madhani until makhan (butter) rises |
| 4. Collect | Butter separated from buttermilk by hand |
| 5. Slow heat | Butter simmered on low (often wood fire) until golden & granular |
| 6. Jar | Cooled, filtered, sealed — nothing added |
Butter slow-cooking into golden ghee (image coming soon)
Most commercial ghee is made the fast way: cream is separated by machine and melted into ghee in minutes. Bilona starts from curd and takes far longer — which changes aroma, texture and the fatty-acid character.
| Factory / cream method | Bilona method | |
|---|---|---|
| Starts from | Cream | Cultured curd |
| Churning | Machine, minutes | Hand, hours |
| Heat | High, fast | Low, slow |
| Yield | High | Very low |
| Texture/aroma | Uniform, mild | Granular, aromatic |
Here is something most brands won’t tell you: the word “bilona” alone no longer guarantees hand-made. Many large producers now use motorised bilona machines — curd-based, yes, but mechanised and scaled. That’s better than cream-and-heat factory ghee, but it isn’t the real, slow, hand-churned thing. Ours is genuinely hand-churned in small batches at source in Maitoli. See how to verify purity or the ghee we make.
Bilona is deliberately inefficient: it takes roughly 25–30 litres of milk to make about 1 kg of ghee, plus hours of hand work. That’s why genuine bilona ghee can’t be cheap — the price reflects the method, not a markup. The tiny batch size is also the best proof of authenticity: you can’t fake bilona at industrial scale.
Ask to see the actual churning on video (with a date), a batch-wise lab report, and the breed/A2 source. Real makers can show all three; ‘bilona’ on a label alone proves nothing.
A common worry: made the old way with no preservatives, does it spoil fast? Quite the opposite. Because ghee is pure butterfat — the water and milk solids are removed during the slow cook — there is almost nothing left for microbes to grow on. Kept in a clean, dry jar away from moisture and direct sun, bilona ghee stays good for many months without refrigeration, and only deepens in aroma. Use a dry spoon and it keeps beautifully. More in our storage & shelf-life guide.
Hand-churned bilona from grass-fed A2 cows — watch the process, read the report, taste the difference.