A Himalayan valley in Uttarakhand at first light

Uttarakhand Himalaya · 8,200 ft

Thirty litres of milk.One litre of ghee.

Hand-churned from cultured curd, not separated cream, in the villages where the milk is drawn. That is the whole difference — and the whole cost.

Shop the ghee Rs. 649.00 Read a lab report
Grazing altitude
8,200 ft
Milk to ghee
30 : 1
Current batch
HIM-104
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  • Lab-tested every batch
  • Made the slow way, by hand
  • Nothing added or standardised
  • Free shipping over ₹999
A2 Bilona Ghee — view 1Bestseller

Available now · Batch HIM-104

A2 Bilona Ghee

Grainy, deeply aromatic, and the colour of whatever the herd grazed that season. Nothing is added, standardised or bleached.

Rs. 649.00Rs. 799.00 Save 18%Price includes 5% GST
Jar size
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  • Batch-tested
  • Free over ₹999
  • Purity guarantee
  • A lab report per batch. Heavy metals, pesticides and adulterants — look yours up by code.
  • Wood-fire clarified. Slow enough for the milk solids to caramelise, not scorch.
  • Grazed at 8,200 ft. Free-roaming Badri cows on wild Himalayan forage.

Full details, nutrition and lab report

The pantry

What Himdhara makes

Everything here is sourced from the same valleys and held to the same batch testing. What is not yet on sale is in production.

See everything

Traceability

Which batch is in your jar?

Every Himdhara jar carries a batch code on its base. Enter it to see that exact batch's independent laboratory report — free fatty acid, moisture, heavy metals, pesticide residue and adulteration tests.

Recent batches

A Himalayan valley in the upper Uttarakhand hills
Uttarkashi Where the milk, the comb and the seed all come from.

Where it comes from

One region, one standard, one method each

Himdhara buys from smallholder families across the upper Uttarakhand valleys — the same families, season after season, paid above the local rate. Nothing is bought on a spot market and nothing is pooled.

Each thing we sell is made the slow way that thing actually needs: curd churned by hand for ghee, comb strained cold for honey, spice pounded in stone rather than milled. What they share is the refusal to take the faster route and the lab report that proves it.

A method this slow only survives if the people doing it can afford to keep doing it. That is the whole business model, and it is the reason the catalogue is short.

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Grazing altitude
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The methods

How each of these is made

Every category has its own method, and each one is defined by what it refuses to do. Choose one to see the steps it goes through before it is jarred.

How bilona ghee is made

Bilona ghee is made by culturing whole milk into curd, hand-churning that curd into butter, and clarifying the butter over a slow fire. It is defined by what it refuses to do: no cream separator, no pooled milk, no shortcut.

  1. Badri cows grazing at altitude

    Step 1 of 5

    The herd grazes, then is milked

    Badri cows walk the slopes and eat wild forage — no compound feed. They are milked by hand in the village, and the milk is used the same day. It never enters a collection tanker.

    8,200 ft · same-day

  2. Milk setting into curd in an earthen pot

    Step 2 of 5

    Whole milk is set into curd overnight

    The milk is warmed, seeded with a native starter culture and left to set for eight to ten hours. This is the step industrial ghee skips entirely — and where most of the aroma is created.

    8–10 hours

  3. Hand-churning curd with a wooden bilona

    Step 3 of 5

    The curd is churned by hand before dawn

    A wooden bilona is pulled back and forth in both directions while the curd is still cold from the night. Butter separates and rises; buttermilk is drawn off and goes back to the household.

    Both directions, by hand

  4. Butter clarifying slowly over a wood fire

    Step 4 of 5

    The butter clarifies over a wood fire

    Water evaporates and the milk solids sink and caramelise. Slow heat is the whole point — pushed too hard the solids scorch and the ghee turns bitter rather than nutty.

    Slow heat, wood-fired

  5. Finished ghee settling in a glass jar

    Step 5 of 5

    It settles, is jarred and is tested

    The ghee is strained, poured into glass while still warm and left to grain as it cools. A sample from every batch goes to an accredited laboratory before any jar is sold.

    One lab report per batch

How raw forest honey is collected

Wild multiflora honey is taken from forest colonies that are never moved to follow a crop, strained cold rather than heated, and left to set on its own. Heating would clear it and cost it the enzymes and aroma worth paying for.

  1. Bees working wild forest flowers

    Step 1 of 4

    The colonies are left where they are

    Wild colonies are not carted between orchards to follow a bloom. Whatever the forest is flowering that month is what ends up in the jar, which is why no two harvests taste alike.

    Wild multiflora

  2. Capped honeycomb being cut by hand

    Step 2 of 4

    Comb is cut by hand, never pressed

    Only capped comb is taken, and never all of it — the colony keeps what it needs to get through the cold months. Pressing the whole frame would take brood and pollen with it.

    Capped comb only

  3. Honey being strained through a coarse mesh

    Step 3 of 4

    It is strained cold

    Passed through a coarse mesh to take out wax and nothing finer. Commercial honey is heated to make it pour clear and stay liquid on a shelf; that heat is what costs it its enzymes.

    Never warmed

  4. Honey settling in a glass jar

    Step 4 of 4

    It settles, is jarred and is tested

    Left to stand so trapped air rises, then poured into glass. A sample from every harvest goes to a laboratory before any jar ships.

    One lab report per harvest

How shilajit resin is purified

Raw shilajit is collected where it seeps from rock in the summer months, dissolved in cold spring water to separate it from grit, filtered in stages and sun-dried back into resin. No solvent and no oven at any point.

  1. High Himalayan rock faces in summer

    Step 1 of 4

    It seeps from the rock in summer

    At altitude the resin oozes from crevices only when the sun is strong enough to draw it out. Collectors work a short window and take what has already come out on its own.

    Above 16,000 ft

  2. Cold spring water running over stone

    Step 2 of 4

    It is dissolved in cold spring water

    The raw scrape goes into cold spring water and is left to dissolve. The resin goes into solution; the rock, grit and plant matter it came out with do not.

    Cold, never boiled

  3. Resin thickening in shallow trays under the sun

    Step 3 of 4

    Filtered in stages, then sun-dried

    Through cloth, several times, each pass finer than the last. What is left is spread in shallow trays under direct sun until it thickens back into resin. No oven and no vacuum drier.

    Sun-dried at altitude

  4. A laboratory sample being prepared

    Step 4 of 4

    It is jarred and tested

    Poured into glass while still soft. Every batch is tested for heavy metals and for fulvic acid content, and the report is published against its batch code before any of it ships.

    Heavy metals, every batch

How the pulses are grown and cleaned

Rajma, gahat and bhatt are grown rain-fed on mountain terraces with no irrigation and no chemical input, threshed and sorted by hand, and left unpolished. The grain stays small, which is where the flavour is.

  1. Terraced mountain fields in the hills

    Step 1 of 4

    Grown rain-fed on terraces

    No irrigation and no chemical input — the crop gets the rain the season gives it. Yields are a fraction of what the plains produce, and the grain is smaller and denser for it.

    Rain-fed only

  2. Harvested crop stacked to dry in a field

    Step 2 of 4

    Harvested and threshed by hand

    Cut, stacked to dry in the field, then beaten out. Machine threshing splits the grain, and split grain neither keeps nor cooks the same way.

    Hand-threshed

  3. Grain being winnowed in the wind

    Step 3 of 4

    Winnowed and picked over by hand

    Chaff is winnowed off in the hill wind, then the grain is picked over by hand for stones and broken pieces. Nothing is polished — the skin is where most of the fibre sits.

    Unpolished

  4. Sorted pulses ready for packing

    Step 4 of 4

    Packed and tested

    Packed without fumigation. Every lot is tested for pesticide residue and heavy metals before it ships.

    No fumigation

How the masale are made

Jakhiya, timur and the garam masala spices are grown or gathered in the same hills, sun-dried over several days, and pounded in stone rather than machine-ground. Grinding heats a spice and takes its oils with it.

  1. Spice plants growing at altitude

    Step 1 of 4

    Grown or gathered at altitude

    Cold nights concentrate the volatile oils that make a spice worth using. The same seed grown in the plains is bigger, cheaper and does considerably less in a pan.

    Himalayan grown

  2. Whole spices drying on cloth in the sun

    Step 2 of 4

    Sun-dried, never kiln-dried

    Spread on cloth and turned by hand over several days. A kiln does it in hours and takes the top notes with it — the difference is obvious the moment the jar is opened.

    3–5 days in sun

  3. A stone mortar being used to pound spice

    Step 3 of 4

    Pounded in stone, not machine-ground

    Stone crushes rather than shears, so the spice never heats up on its way to becoming powder. It is slower, and the grind is uneven in a way a mill cannot reproduce.

    Stone-pounded

  4. Small packed lots of ground spice

    Step 4 of 4

    Ground in small lots and tested

    Ground to order, because a ground spice starts losing its aroma the day it is made. Every lot is tested for adulterants and added colour before it ships.

    Ground to order

Straight answer

How each of these compares

Every category is made a slower way than the one most of the shelf is made by. Choose one to see exactly what that changes.

What is the difference between bilona ghee and regular ghee?

Bilona ghee is churned from cultured curd; most commercial ghee is boiled from mechanically separated cream. The method changes the yield, the aroma and the texture — and it is the reason the price differs.

Factor Bilona (Himdhara) Commercial ghee
Made from Cultured curd (dahi) Separated cream
Milk per litre of ghee About 30 litres About 10 to 12 litres
Churning Hand, wooden bilona Mechanical separator
Heat source Wood fire, slow Industrial steam, fast
Texture Grainy, varies by season Uniform and smooth
Colour Pale gold to amber, unstandardised Standardised, often coloured
Batch traceability Batch code and lab report per jar Rarely published

We are describing method, not making health claims. Both products are ghee; one is simply made the slow way.

What is the difference between raw and commercial honey?

Raw honey is strained cold and left to set on its own. Most honey on a shelf is heated so it pours clear and stays liquid, which is what costs it its enzymes and aroma.

Factor Raw forest (Himdhara) Commercial honey
Source Wild forest colonies, never moved Migratory hives followed to crops
Processing Strained cold through coarse mesh Heated and micro-filtered
Crystallisation Sets naturally — a sign it is raw Prevented, so it stays liquid
Flavour Changes with the season and forage Blended to one consistent profile
Added sugar None — tested for C4 sugar Adulteration with syrup is common
Batch traceability Batch code and lab report per jar Rarely published

We are describing method, not making health claims. Both are honey; one is simply left alone.

What is the difference between purified resin and shilajit capsules?

Resin is the raw exudate dissolved in spring water, filtered and sun-dried back into resin. Most capsules are a dried extract cut with a carrier, which is why the dose says little about what is in it.

Factor Purified resin (Himdhara) Capsules and powders
Form Resin, as it comes out of the rock Powder or extract in a capsule
Purification Cold spring water, filtered in stages Solvent extraction is common
Drying Sun-dried at altitude Oven or spray-dried
Fillers None Carriers and bulking agents usual
Heavy metals Tested every batch, published Seldom tested, rarely published
Batch traceability Batch code and lab report per jar Rarely published

We are describing method and composition, not making medical claims.

What is the difference between hill-grown and commodity pulses?

Hill pulses are rain-fed, hand-threshed and left unpolished. Commodity grain is irrigated, machine-threshed and polished to look uniform, which takes the skin and most of the fibre with it.

Factor Hill-grown (Himdhara) Commodity pulses
Growing Rain-fed mountain terraces Irrigated plains, chemical input
Seed Heirloom, saved from the last crop Hybrid, bought each season
Threshing By hand, grain kept whole Machine — splits the grain
Polishing None — the skin stays on Polished for a uniform look
Storage No fumigation Routinely fumigated
Batch traceability Batch code and lab report per lot Rarely published

We are describing how the crop is grown and cleaned, not making nutritional claims.

What is the difference between stone-pounded and machine-ground spice?

A stone mortar crushes; a mill shears and heats. That heat is what takes the volatile oils out of a spice on the way to becoming powder, which is why supermarket masala smells of very little.

Factor Stone-pounded (Himdhara) Commercial masala
Origin Grown or gathered at altitude Sourced on price, origin unstated
Drying Sun-dried over several days Kiln-dried in hours
Grinding Stone mortar, never heated High-speed mill
Batch size Ground to order in small lots Ground months ahead of sale
Added colour None — tested for it Colour additives are common
Batch traceability Batch code and lab report per lot Rarely published

We are describing method, not making health claims.

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From the people cooking with it

What buyers say

  • It smells like my grandmother's kitchen, which I did not expect from something bought online. The grain is real — you can see it set unevenly in the jar.
    Shreya D. Verified buyer · Pune
  • I checked the batch code before I opened it, mostly to see whether the report would actually be there. It was, and it matched the jar. That is the reason I reordered.
    Ankit B. Verified buyer · Bengaluru
  • Half a spoon in dal is enough, which is not true of the ghee I was buying before. It works out closer in cost than the price suggests.
    Varun N. Verified buyer · Delhi

In production

The rest of the pantry

We are not launching these until each one passes the same batch testing the ghee does. Leave your email on any of them and you will hear the day it ships — nothing else.

Questions

The things people ask before ordering

About the ghee

Why does bilona ghee cost more than regular ghee?

Because it takes about 30 litres of milk to make one litre, against roughly 10 to 12 for ghee made from separated cream. The curd is churned by hand and clarified over a wood fire, which takes a morning rather than minutes. The milk alone in a litre of bilona ghee costs about three times as much before any labour is counted.

Does ghee need to be refrigerated?

No. Ghee is clarified butter with almost no water left in it, so it is shelf-stable at room temperature for up to 12 months. Keep the jar in a cool, dark cupboard and always use a dry spoon — moisture is the only thing that will spoil it.

Why does the colour and texture change between jars?

Because nothing is standardised. Colour comes from carotene in the forage, and what the herd eats changes with the season, so spring ghee is deeper gold than winter ghee. Grain varies with how quickly a batch cools. Industrial ghee is held to a fixed colour and texture deliberately; we do not do that.

Is A2 ghee better than regular ghee?

Honestly, the A2 distinction matters less in ghee than in milk. A1 and A2 refer to a beta-casein protein, and most of the protein is removed when butter is clarified. What genuinely changes the ghee is the animal's forage and the method used. We source A2 Badri milk because those herds graze freely at altitude, not because of the protein label.

How do I check the lab report for my jar?

Every jar has a batch code printed on its base, in the form HIM-104. Enter it on the lab reports page and you will see that batch's independent test results — free fatty acid, moisture, heavy metals, pesticide residue and the Baudouin test for vanaspati adulteration.

Can I pause or cancel a subscription?

Yes, from your account, at any time before the next billing date. You can skip a single delivery, change the interval, switch jar size, or cancel outright. There is no cancellation fee and no need to contact us.

About the honey

Why has my honey turned solid?

Because it is raw. Honey that has not been heated crystallises on its own, faster in the cold, and that is the clearest sign it has been left alone. Stand the jar in warm water for a few minutes if you want it runny again — do not microwave it.

Is the honey pure, and how would I know?

Every harvest is tested for added sugar using the C4 sugar test, along with moisture and antibiotic residue, and the report is published against the batch code on your jar. Cheap honey is commonly cut with syrup, and that test is the one that catches it.

Why does the flavour change between jars?

Because the colonies are not moved to follow a crop. What the forest is flowering that month is what the bees bring in, so a spring harvest tastes nothing like an autumn one. Commercial honey is blended to a single profile on purpose; we do not do that.

About the shilajit

How is resin different from shilajit capsules?

Resin is the raw exudate dissolved in cold spring water, filtered in stages and sun-dried back into resin — nothing is added and nothing is extracted with solvent. Most capsules contain a dried extract mixed with a carrier, which is why the milligram figure on the label says very little about what you are taking.

How do I use it?

Dissolve a portion about the size of a grain of rice in warm water or milk. It does not dissolve in cold water quickly. We describe the method and the composition only, and make no medical or therapeutic claims — if you take medication, ask your doctor first.

Is it tested for heavy metals?

Yes, every batch, because shilajit comes out of rock and heavy metals are the real risk with it. Lead, arsenic, mercury and cadmium are tested alongside fulvic acid content, and the full report is published against the batch code before any of it ships.

About the pulses

Why do these take longer to cook?

Because they are unpolished and grown slowly on rain-fed terraces, so the grain is denser than commodity pulses. Soak them for a few hours and they cook normally. Polishing makes a pulse cook faster by taking its skin off, and most of the fibre goes with it.

Are they treated with anything in storage?

No. They are packed without fumigation, which is why we recommend an airtight container. Every lot is tested for pesticide residue and heavy metals before it ships.

Why are the grains small and uneven?

Because they are heirloom varieties grown without irrigation or chemical input, and sorted by hand rather than graded by machine. Uniform grain is a sign of a hybrid crop and a mechanical sort, not of quality.

About the masale

Why is the grind uneven?

Because it is pounded in a stone mortar rather than milled. Stone crushes instead of shearing, so the spice never heats up on its way to becoming powder and keeps the volatile oils that make it worth using. A mill gives you a uniform powder that smells of noticeably less.

How long does ground spice keep?

Use it within about six months. It is ground to order in small lots because a ground spice starts losing aroma the day it is made — which is the opposite of how supermarket masala is produced, months ahead of sale.

What is jakhiya, and what do I do with it?

It is the tempering seed of Uttarakhand — used the way mustard or cumin seed is, crackled in hot fat at the start of a dish. It has a nuttier, less sharp flavour than mustard, and it is almost unknown outside the hills.

Still unsure about something? Ask us directly