What to use instead of ghee
It depends entirely on what it's doing in the dish. Here's the job, what else does it, and what to skip.
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High-heat fat for blooming whole spices
The water and milk solids have been cooked out, so it holds around 250C without burning, which is what popping mustard seed and cumin needs.
Neutral oilDairy-free
1:1
Seeds pop exactly the same. The finished dal tastes thinner because the nutty butter note is gone.
Coconut oilDairy-free
1:1
Reads coconut in a mild dal. Correct in a South Indian dish, out of place in a Punjabi one.
Mustard oilDairy-free
1:1, heated to smoking then cooled slightly before the seeds go in
Sharp and sinus-hot. Skipping the pre-heat leaves a raw, acrid taste through the whole dish.
Clarified butter you make yourselfRan out
Melt 1 1/4 cups butter, skim the foam, pour off the clear fat and leave the solids behind, to get 1 cup
Handles the heat the same but tastes plainer. Ghee gets its flavour from browning those solids before straining.
What doesn't work: Plain butter straight into a hot tadka pan. The water and milk solids are still in it, so it spits, then the solids blacken before the mustard seeds have finished popping.
Enriching fat brushed on bread or stirred into rice at the end
Almost pure fat with a toasted nutty flavour, and it stays fluid enough at serving temperature to soak into a hot paratha instead of sitting on top.
Melted butterRan out
1:1
Creamier and less nutty. The water in it steams the bread, so a paratha goes soft sooner.
Browned butter, strainedRan out
1:1
Nearly identical flavour. It sets solid in the fridge where ghee stays spoonable.
Coconut oilDairy-free
1:1
Firms up as the food cools, so bread turns waxy on the plate rather than staying supple.
Plant butter, meltedDairy-free
1:1
More water in it, so the bread steams where ghee would crisp it. Brush it on thinner.
What doesn't work: Olive oil on an Indian flatbread. It works as a fat, but the peppery grassy flavour fights the spices and the bread ends up tasting like focaccia.