Clarified butter. Ghee can be made at home simply by keeping butter on a very low heat for a few hours until the water evaporates. The melted butter will keep indefinitely, will not change colour on use and can be re-used many times without changing its character.
A bottle gourd or calabash cucumber which is pale green on the outside, creamy, yellowish-white inside and looks like a cucumber with a bulge at one end. Only the very young gourds are used for cooking. When older they are most commonly known as calabash and develop a hard, woody shell which may be used for making bowls and musical instruments.