FSSAI CERTIFIED . LAB-VERIFIED ~90% A2 . NBAGR BADRI BREED . MAITOLI VILLAGE . BERINAG
Not ‘Himalayan’ in the vague sense — a real village, a real family, a real way of making ghee. This is where Buranshvalley comes from.
Pahadi ghee is ghee made in the hills (pahad) of Uttarakhand from the milk of native A2 hill cows, hand-churned the traditional way. It is not a flavour or a grade — it is a place. Real Pahadi ghee carries the character of high-altitude grazing: free-roaming cows, wild forest forage, cold mountain air, and a slow bilona method that no factory line replicates. Ours comes from one named village — Maitoli, in Berinag, Pithoragarh — not a vague “Himalayan” label.
Four honest things set Pahadi ghee apart, and all four are about source, not marketing:
✓ Native A2 hill cows — the indigenous Badri breed, not high-yield hybrids.
✓ Free forest grazing — wild grass and herbs of buransh & oak forests, not stall feed.
✓ Altitude & clean air — ~5,775 ft, naturally cool through the year.
✓ Traditional method — curd hand-churned and slow-cooked on a wood fire, in small batches.
Take any one away and it stops being true Pahadi ghee. That is why we name the village and show the proof, instead of asking you to take “pure” on trust.
Buranshvalley ghee is made in Maitoli — a village in the Berinag block of Pithoragarh district, in the Kumaon hills of Uttarakhand, at about 5,775 feet. The cows graze in forests of buransh (rhododendron) and oak that give the valley — and our name — its character.
📷 PHOTO NEEDED — Maitoli village / the hillside & forest (replace this caption once the image is added)
Our founder, Manju Bhatt, is 52 and has spent over 30 years rearing cows. Born and brought up in Maitoli, this isn’t a business she entered — it’s the life she has always lived. Buranshvalley is women-led, and Manju leads it: the same hands that have cared for these cows for three decades make the ghee.
📷 PHOTO NEEDED — Manju Bhatt & the women hand-churning with the mathani (replace this caption once the image is added)
We make ghee the way it has always been made here — what we call ghyuu in our Kumauni tongue:
✓ Doodh — fresh milk from grass-fed Pahadi Badri cows.
✓ Dahi — the milk is cultured and set into curd.
✓ Churned by hand — with a wooden mathani and theeki, the traditional bilona way.
✓ Slow heat on wood fire — the butter is simmered gently until golden.
✓ Ready to serve — cooled, filtered, sealed. Nothing added.
📷 PHOTO NEEDED — Ghee being slow-cooked on the wood fire / finished jar (replace this caption once the image is added)
Like all pure A2 desi ghee, Pahadi ghee is traditionally valued for digestion, everyday energy and cooking at high heat, and it carries fat-soluble vitamins and butyric acid naturally. The hill difference is the source quality behind it. For the full picture — and who should use it in moderation — read why source and altitude matter and our complete desi ghee benefits guide. As with any rich fat, enjoy it in moderation and consult your doctor for personal advice.
These terms overlap, so here is the honest difference — all describe our ghee from different angles:
• Pahadi ghee — from the hills (this page, the pillar).
• Himalayan ghee — the altitude & mountain-range angle.
• Kumaoni ghee (ghyuu) — the Kumaon region & culture angle.
• Uttarakhand ghee — the state-level sourcing angle.
In these hills, families are leaving for the cities — palayan, the slow emptying of villages. Buranshvalley exists partly to push back: by turning what families here already do best into a livelihood, so they can stay, earn, and raise their children where they belong. A small herd of 9 cows across our households — quality over scale — is the honest beginning of that.
When we say Pahadi, we mean Maitoli — a place you can point to on a map. That’s the difference between a story and a claim you can check. See our lab report & purity too.
The market is full of “Pahadi” and “Himalayan” labels with no proof behind them. Before you buy, look for three things: a named source (village, not just “Himalayas”), a third-party lab report you can actually read, and clarity on the breed and method. Genuine bilona ghee is grainy and aromatic, made in small batches. See our simple home purity tests and the lab-tested A2 bilona ghee we make in Maitoli.
Pahadi Badri cows, the bilona way, by the women of one Uttarakhand village.