How to Choose Your Cooking Oil

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