Indian cooking and oils
Which cooking oil is the best?
Should we use low with saturated fat or high saturated fat?
How about refined vs unrefined cooking oils?
Did you consider this: Check prices of 1 kg of sunflower seeds in the stores and check the price of one kg of sunflower oil. Do the prices match? No. Seeds are priced far higher than oil. The surmise being the oil in question is not pure sunflower oil. Something else has been mixed. And most often it is cottonseed and palm oil that are used.
‘REFINING THE OIL’
Lots of chemicals are used to refine the oil. Oil is subjected to high heat, to dissipate the smell of the oil. So we should not use refined oils
Simply speaking: unrefined and cold-pressed oils are best
‘SMOKE POINT’
Each oil has its own ‘Smoke Point’, a temperature beyond which it releases toxins called ‘Free Radicals” which cause inflammation to the body and heart diseases.
| TYPE OF OIL | Maximum Cooking Temp | CLASS |
| Almond oil | 430° | Medium-high |
| Avocado oil | 520° | High |
| Avocado oil, (virgin) | 400° | Medium |
| Butter | 350° | Medium |
| Butter, (clarified) – Ghee | 485° | High |
| Coconut oil, (refined) | 400° | Medium |
| Coconut oil, (unrefined) | 350° | Medium-low |
| Olive oil, Virgin | 420° | Medium-high |
| Olive oil, Extra Virgin | 400° | Medium |
| Olive oil, Extra light | 470° | High |
| Sesame oil, (unrefined) | 350° | Medium-low |
‘OMEGA 3 to OMEGA 6 Ratio’
This should be as close to 1:1 as possible. OMEGA 6 are essential, but inflammatory, as well as OMEGA 3, is anti-inflammatory