Oils – All kinds you will find in my Kitchen

Always trust a chef or recipe that tells you which oil to use. Of course you can make a dish with another oil, but every dish demands a specific kind of fat/ oil. It really is the foundation of a tasty dish.

My Masters’ thesis was on studying fatty acid profiles of ghee (clarified butter) made with different methods. Scientifically speaking, the fatty acid profile of ghee made in different ways (traditional, cultured, modern, direct cream, etc.) is broadly very similar. the main difference is in the shorter chain fatty acids and free fatty acids that lead to a difference in aroma, smoking point, etc. and what a difference in taste it made. Funny how something a Gas Chromatograph or HPLC cannot capture, your nose and tongue can!

Bottom line being, although my research didn’t reveal groundbreaking facts, it reiterated what my Grandmom would have already known 😛 Fats have a tremendous potential to impart unique flavor, character and aroma to foods

Here’s a list of attributes, the oil or fat you cook anything in contributes to it, starting with the obvious ones:

1. Flavor – oils have their own flavor, albeit mild in some cases, its one ingredient that will always mingle in the background, like it or not! Why not choose the right one to enhance your eating experience!
2. Aroma – oils and fats have a high quantity of volatile components and short chain fatty acids that give off an aroma – different ones at different temperatures as different compounds volatilize at different temperatures.
3. texture – how oil coats and binds each particle in the food in turn results in a unique texture that it imparts or helps the food to retain.
4. mouthfeel – the greasiness of something or the lack thereof hugely impacts the mouthfeel of foods
5. Keeping quality – how a food holds up over its shelf life, depends heavily on the oil used in it. A high fat environment is very preserving as nothing can grow in it, because it has no moisture or water activity (which is essential for most microbes to grow). The only risk with spoilage for oils is rancidity/ oxidation. Now you know why achaars (indian pickes) have that layer of oil on top and are safe to consume for over a year! I take advantage of this to preserve longer my sauces, chutneys, ground fresh herbs all the time!
6. Health and Nutrition – Last but certainly not the least!! In the recent past we have all evolved to accept that fats in our diets are very important and good for us. Avoiding fats if you’re on a diet is a thing of the past. The knowledge of fats and oils becomes all the more important here – you choose oils on what the dish demands, but the proportion, time of consumption and the treatment (low temperature, high temp, frying, raw consumption) of the oil ultimately makes it good or bad for you!

I am putting together an exhaustive list of oils below that you will find in my pantry. Even in my tiny NYC kitchen I have a cabinet full of bottles of different kinds of oil, and I am obsessed with trying different oils in my cooking.

I have purposely not included the health information on any oil, because it is very subjective. All cooking oils are healthy in the right proportion and application. One health rule I do follow is that I never re-use frying oil, and yes – since I care about the planet and my health, I don’t fry that often to begin with 🙂

So here’s the list of Oils you will find in my pantry at any given point in time:

1. Peanut oil:

• Intro:
  • If there was one oil I had to pick to run my kitchen with, it would be this one!
  • At least for the stuff I cook the most – Indian, mainly Maharashtrian food, this is very well suited. It is a staple oil for Maharashtrian cooking. My aji used to say it’s the tastiest, healthiest and most affordable oil in Maharashta.
• Flavor: earthy, subtle, savory, nutty
• Uses:
  • This is a very versatile oil especially for western Indian cooking.
  • Not too greasy, not too smelly. I use it for tempering for most curries, to add to chapati dough, eat raw with dry chutneys, tempering for most rice dishes and breakfast dishes such as upma and poha.
• Frying: It is suitable for frying savory foods. Especially when using the refined variety – as it tastes and smells close-to-neutral

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2. Sesame oil:

• Intro:
  • As per my Aji and some research, sesame oil is the original authentic oil that was used in Maharashtrian cooking. But due to it being more expensive, peanut or groundnut oil took its place eventually.
  • Even in a traditional prayer that we say in the evening in Marathi households – shubhankaroti – there’s a line – “tilacha tel, kapsachi vaat, diva tevo madhyan raat” – Let this lamp, that I light with sesame oil and cotton wick, go on till midnight – Sesame oil being the household staple oil
• Flavor: earthy, spicy, savory, nutty. Raw sesame oil smells like first rains on hot soil!
• Uses:
  • This has a very peculiar taste and flavor.
  • Its only suitable for spicy complex dishes. Especially for dishes that have lots of asafetida, curry leaves, jaggery, tamarind etc, in case of Indian food.
  • This oil however is also very well suited for south-east Asian cooking – Chinese food especially.
  • I also like to use it as a raw oil to mix chatni pudi with as is typically done in southern India.
• Frying: It is suitable for high temperature heating however not the best for frying as it has a very peculiar flavor and is not a neutral oil

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3. Ghee:

• Intro:
  • I grew up with eating food cooked and served with ghee. Ghee is the one thing I will probably not be able to ever quit eating, even if I start eating mostly vegan food. Ghee followed by cheese are the two main reasons, I don’t think I can ever be vegan 😛
  • Ghee+cumin seeds+green chilies – is one of my MOST favorite tempering ever!

• Flavor: buttery, golden, rich, toasted
• Uses:
  • Very versatile again!
  • Well suited for both sweet and savory, hot and cold, raw and cooked, tempering and frying, applications
  • The most important property of ghee is that when used as a tempering for salads and koshimbirs or chutneys, it binds the water and helps it not become runny.
  • Most common use (for me) is to eat it with hot rice, dal rice, varan-bhat – in short, it’s the cherry on the top for my soul foods 😛 Also most common as a topping for hot chapatis, fulka roti, etc.
  • I also love to add it to dry chutneys, pickles and thecha or any spicy condiments to make it palatable and more delicious!

• Frying: It is very suitable for high temperature cooking and frying as it has a very high smoking point. Also, it is pretty neutral and adds a rich aroma and texture to both sweet and savory foods.

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4. Coconut Oil:

• Intro:
  • The next best thing to ghee

• Flavor: Neutral, slightly nutty and sweet
• Uses:
  • Similar to ghee. Best substitute for ghee if you are vegan
  • Especially suited for any curries and preparations that use coconut or coconut milk
  • It also has a property to bind water and make chutneys and curries hold the water together better.
  • Great fat to add in desserts – vegan or otherwise as it goes very well with sweet applications.
  • Particularly good for frozen desserts as it gives a wonderful texture as it melts in the mouth
• Frying: It is very suitable for high temperature cooking and frying as it has a very high smoking point. imparts a nutty flavor to foods when fried in it. Makes fried foods stay crunchy and flaky longer.

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5. Extra Virgin Olive oil:

• Intro:
  • Commonly referred to as EVOO.
  • Mainly used for its impeccable flavor and meant for raw consumption
  • Can easily elevate a simple salad or bread and give it a classy depth of flavor

• Flavor: Spicy, fruity, bitter, citrus
• Uses:
  • Dipping oil for breads
  • Dressing for salads, drizzles for pasta
  • Finishing Italian food, for flavor
• Frying: EVOO is not suitable for frying – I am not going to hype myths of it being unhealthy and toxic at high temperature or that it has a low smoking point, etc. – because it does not. The reason why its not ideal for frying is because it can add bitterness and a dark color and greasy coating to the food you’re frying, none of which is desirable at the expense of an expensive oil such as EVOO; not to mention while making it lose its precious flavorful volatile compounds.

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6. Light Olive oil:

• Intro:
  • EVOO’s little brother. Same fatty acid profile by and large, not virgin, has less flavor compounds and short chain fatty acids.
  • More neutral in taste and color with all the goodness of olive oil.

• Flavor: very mild Spicy, fruity
• Uses:
  • cooking, sauteing, baking, frying (savory foods) – pretty much everything 🙂
  • I think this is the Italian/ Mediterranean equivalent of what groundnut oil is to Maharashtrial cooking
• Frying: YES – savory foods

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7. Mustard oil:

• Intro:
  • Very pungent and flavorful oil. Personally I use it very sparingly and to its flavor’s advantage. Used widely in Eastern Indian cuisine

• Flavor: pungent, sulfuric, spicy
• Uses:
  • cooking, flavoring in marinades for meats, tempering
  • Used in Eastern Indian dishes primarily meat and seafood preparations.
  • Is a very popular ingredient to add in marinades as it adds a depth of flavor and greasiness and moistness to meats.
• Frying: from smoke point point of view yes, but I wouldn’t use it as its so pungent, I wouldn’t even want to stand by something frying in mustard oil !!

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8. Sunflower oil:

• Intro:
  • Very subtle and neutral, light oil. Popular refined oil, widely used in Indian households

• Flavor: neutral, almost odorless, clean taste
• Uses:
  • cooking, sauteing, tempering and frying
  • When you dont want the oil to add any peculiar flavor or texture – just a basic no-nonsense oil.
• Frying: My choice of oil for frying is refined sunflower oil. It is odorless, makes frying a less unpleasant exercise, plus it adds no flavor of its own to the foods. Good for frying savory as well as sweet foods.

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9. Soybean oil : I use this in case I don’t have access to refined peanut or sunflower oil, primarily only for frying

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10. Canola Oil: I avoid using this oil completely as I do not like the way it smells when heated to a high temperature and especially when used for frying. So if I buy this it’s really only because I had no other choice:P

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