How to Choose Your Cooking Oil

13/12/2021

Oil just doesn’t add flavour to your dishes. It adds a nutritional value to the diet. With so many varieties available in the market we are often in dilemma on which oil to choose for the cooking. While most of us prefer sunflower oil because it is suitable for all kinds of cooking. But that not right, every kind of cooking requires an appropriate one

Do You Need One In Your Kitchen

Cooking oils are often a blend of saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids. Saturated fatty acids increase the amount of cholesterol in the body while mono & poly unsaturated fatty acids maintain healthy cholesterol levels.

They also contain essential fatty acids like omega 3 & 6 which cannot be produced by the body. According to the WHO (World Health Organization) a good balance of these fatty acids is required for healthy body

Anything in excess is harmful, same is with oils. Use them in moderation. Never eliminate it from your diet. Doing so might deprive your meal of the much required essential nutrients

How Much Is Healthy

Recommended dietary allowance for healthy adults is 15 ml or 3 teaspoons/day which is not more than ½ litre per month

Add Flavour to Your Recipe, Not Just Oil

We resort to different kinds of cooking methods (stir fry, sautéing, garnishing, deep fry, etc) for each of our meals. When our methods vary so should our oil. The reason being every variant of the oil has a different smoke point. Heating oil above their respective smoke points reduces beneficial nutrients and produces harmful chemicals

A) Frying (Deep or Shallow)

Frying requires the item to be partially or completely submerged in the oil. Oil is subjected to high heat for long time. Not a healthy practice at all and should be done in moderation

Best Suited Oils: Mustard Oil, Sunflower Oil, Clarified Butter & Ghee

B) Sauteing

Involves cooking the food is small quantities of oil generally 1 or 2 teaspoons at medium heat. Most Indian dishes require sautéing method

Best Suited Oils: Canola Oil, Peanut Oil, Rice Bran Oil, Coconut Oil

Garnishing & Dressing

Garnishing involves drizzling a small amount of oil on top of the cooked dish to enhance its flavour. Dressing is coating a food preparation in oil. Best thing about garnishing and dressing is oils aren’t subjected to heat in these methods.

Best Suited Oils: Olive Oil

Pick The Best

Main reason oils are refined is to increase their smoke points. High smoke points are required for cooking at higher temperatures

Increasing the smoke points reduces the nutrient levels and flavours

Cold pressed or unrefined oils undergo a mechanical extraction process at low temperatures

Choose Right Eat Smart