Which oil to use

[Andy]

I prefer to use peanut oil as used to it back home.
But i am hearing its better to change and shift to Olive oil. Well good olive oil is much expensive.

I wonder what you all health consious ppl do use. If you use more than one type, how do you split for different purposes?
Is one good for specific thing than other?

[bhargavi.raj]

Hi Andy,
Some recipes will taste much better in a specific kinda oil only.but that doesn't mean that we have to load our houses with 30 different oils.
The best oil to use for low cal food will be canola /vegetable oil. These contain very less calorie compared to other oils. They r great for frying and they don't absorb into the food as other oils do. they r very light and have a high smoking point.and most of the canola or vegetable oil is odourless. so the oil's flavour will not influence any recipe in anyway.
On the other hand olive oil, its very good for health. One health researcher told that if a person drinks 1 cup of olive oil eveyday he will live longer than those who have other oils.and it proved to be rite. But as u said olive oil is very expensive and the best is alwayz the extra virgin olive oil which will be very expensive.
using olive oil can alter the taste & flvaour of the food greatly. so it has to be used in recipes which need that oil and for those which don't have any specified oil. But cooking Indian in olive oil, will be very tricky and sometimes it may turn out into an indo-italian dish !
olive oil can be very flavourfull if its used in salads,pasta dishes, soups, casserols and pilaf recipes.
I prefer having olive oil & canola/corn/vegetable oil in my house. alwayz stick one brand and use it in moderation.for some rare occasions /festivals, the choice of peanut oil can be taken a look. but after cooking with these oils for long time, i really don't feel the need for peanut oil at all.

I hope i have helped u.
Bhargavi.Raj

[waaza]

The poster who said that different oils had different calorific values is wrong. All pure oils have the same, about 9 kcals per gramme.
I suggest you try rape seed oil (also called canola), it is virtually tasteless and has a fatty acid profile which is conducive to good health. I have used this oil for thirty years in Indian food, and all other kinds, and can highly recommend it. I would not use olive oil in Indian food, it is too flavoured.
cheers
Waaza
:wink:

[bhargavi.raj]

My dear friend,
By meaning High calorie, it means high saturated fat. Fat accumalted in the body is due to high caloric food.
Fatty oils r also often termed as high caloric oils.

Thanks

[waaza]

my friend,
no it doesn't. All oil will have a calorific value of around 9 kcals per gramme. The degree of saturation will make very little difference, and certainly not any to our diets. You seem to be a little confused between calorific value and the emotive 'high calorie' subrique. All carbon containing food will have a calorific value, including oils/fats, carbohydrates and proteins. Whether these are 'high' depends on your argument.
I think that what you are trying to say is that some oils contain a higher amount of saturated fat than others, and that these are more harmful as they tend to be more amenable to body storage than less saturated fats. That I would agree with.
cheers
Waaza
:wink:

[buddha_brixton]

No Olive oil in Indian cooking. You must be kidding.

Olive oil works very well with Indian/chinese cooking. If I can find Sesame oil, I use sesame else olive oil.

[Badri]

Olive Oil is very good in Indian cooking. We have been using it for a long time now, and practically every dish that needs tadka tastes good with olive oil. And the smell and flavor are amazing too!
Haven't tried it for anything deep fried like puris etc.

Anyone tried olive oil for deep frying?

[Seethab]

Olive is never to be used for deep frying!!

[Badri]

Thanks...good I never experimented with that...

[buddha_brixton]

Oil for deep-frying

The best oil for deep-frying is dependeds on the boiling temperature of the oil. It's hard to measure the boiling point of oil in the kitchen. The reason is that well before it reaches its boiling point, oil will start to smoke. This is called the 'smoke point'. The smoke points for some common cooking oils are here:

Sunflower - 510 F (266 C)
Soybean - 495 F (257 C)
Corn - 475 F (246 C)
Peanut - 440 F (227 C)
Sesame - 420 F (216 C)
Olive - 375 F (191 C)
(from http://wywahoos.org/wahoos/cookbook/tools.htm)
The exact temperatures will also depend on how pure the oil is.

The boiling point estimates that I've found are pretty sketchy, but a fair estimate for soybean oil (most cheap cooking oil is soybean oil) is about 300 C (or 572 F). Good temperature for deep-frying is around 200C. This is well above the "smoking point" of Olive oil or Sesame oil. Best oils for deep-frying are Sunflower oil and Soyabean oil.

Happy frying.......

[Badri]

Wow! That was pretty informative...never knew there was so much to frying!!

Thanks, BB

[tomato]

Olive oil is good for cooking as well as for our health (the best oil u can use if have conserns rgd cholesterol). But it is expensive.
So u can use it for tempering and for making upma or for dribbling on dosa.
One interesting thing I have observed is a little goes a long way with olive oil. U can actually use a lesser amt espeacially when u make umpa( sooji/vermicilli) and still have the taste and texture of using a lot of oil. U can use it for ghee rice too along with a tbs of ghee for flavour.
Canola oil is also good for health and at the same time inexpensive. So u can use it for deep frying.

[dew]

I agree with Buddha_brixton and sbadri99. Olive oil is great for Indian cooking and I use it for deep frying too. Surprisingly it doesn't stick much as peanut oil. And there is no alteration in the taste or flavour when u deep fry puris, and even vadas in olive oil. But extra virgin olive oil musn't be used for deep frying. A lways prefer light olive oil which is really great for Indian cooking including deep frying.

[US]

Please can somebody suggest a good brand of olive oil which we can use for indian cooking. I want to buy one. We have to buy extra virgin olive oil right.

Thanks and Regards

[Badri]

I am not too sure if Extra Virgin is really good for Indian cooking...Light is good, so is Pure....we bought some EV, and just waiting for it to get over!! :D

[sujathakannan]

I always use Light olive oil for Indian cooking. It stands good for deep frying too. I have done some vadais and snacks in light olive oil. And I use Extra virigin for salads and american/Italian recipes that call for Extra virigin.