Five oils, each with its own place in the kitchen
Cold-pressed from whole seeds. Never refined.
Choose by what you cook. Each oil below has its own taste, its own best uses and its own way of keeping fresh.
Groundnut oil
Also called moongphali tel and palli nune
The everyday oil of many South and West Indian kitchens. Cold-pressed groundnut oil keeps a gentle, nutty flavour that sits comfortably under spices, and it is steady enough for tadka and shallow frying.
Cold-pressed groundnut oil
- Pressing method
- Cold-pressed from whole groundnut kernels on a modern cold-press machine. Settled and filtered, never refined.
- Taste
- Mild and nutty
- Best for
- Daily dal and sabzi, tadka, shallow frying, chutneys
- Smoke point
- Medium, about 160 °C
- Pack sizes
- TODO
- Storage
- Cool, dark place with the lid closed. Best used within TODO months of pressing.
- Batch no.
- Printed on every tin
Sesame oil
Also called til tel, nuvvula nune and gingelly oil
Rich and aromatic, and the traditional oil of South Indian pickles and podis. Sesame oil also resists going rancid better than most oils, thanks to natural antioxidants in the seed such as sesamol.
Cold-pressed sesame oil
- Pressing method
- Cold-pressed from whole sesame seeds on a modern cold-press machine. Settled and filtered, never refined.
- Taste
- Rich, nutty and aromatic
- Best for
- Pickles, podi rice, tempering, idli and dosa
- Smoke point
- Medium, about 175 °C
- Pack sizes
- TODO
- Storage
- Keeps well in a cool, dark place with the lid closed. Best used within TODO months of pressing.
- Batch no.
- Printed on every tin
Coconut oil
Also called nariyal tel and kobbari nune
Pressed from dried copra, with the clean, gently sweet aroma of coconut. Like all pure coconut oil, it turns solid in cool weather, usually below about 24 °C. That is natural, not a fault.
Cold-pressed coconut oil
- Pressing method
- Cold-pressed from dried copra on a modern cold-press machine. Settled and filtered, never refined.
- Taste
- Clean, lightly sweet, with coconut aroma
- Best for
- Avial, thoran, Kerala curries, sweets, finishing a dish
- Smoke point
- Medium, about 175 °C
- Pack sizes
- TODO
- Storage
- Turns solid below about 24 °C. To melt, stand the closed tin in warm water. Best used within TODO months.
- Batch no.
- Printed on every tin
Mustard oil
Also called sarson tel and ava nune
Sharp, pungent and warming, and at the heart of Bengali, Bihari, Odia and Punjabi cooking. It is traditionally heated until it just begins to smoke, which softens its sharpness before the spices go in.
Cold-pressed mustard oil
- Pressing method
- Cold-pressed from whole mustard seeds on a modern cold-press machine. Settled and filtered, never refined.
- Taste
- Pungent, sharp and warming
- Best for
- Fish curries, pickles, sarson ka saag, stir-fries
- Smoke point
- High, about 250 °C
- Pack sizes
- TODO
- Storage
- Cool, dark place with the lid closed. Best used within TODO months of pressing.
- Batch no.
- Printed on every tin
Sunflower oil
Also called surajmukhi tel
Light in colour and taste, so the spices lead. Cold-pressed sunflower oil is the most delicate of the five, so it is best kept for gentle cooking, baking and dressings rather than high heat.
Cold-pressed sunflower oil
- Pressing method
- Cold-pressed from sunflower seeds on a modern cold-press machine. Settled and filtered, never refined.
- Taste
- Light and mild, faintly nutty
- Best for
- Gentle cooking, baking, salad dressings
- Smoke point
- Low, about 105 °C. Not for deep frying.
- Pack sizes
- TODO
- Storage
- The most sensitive to heat and light. Keep it cool and dark, and use within TODO months.
- Batch no.
- Printed on every tin
Smoke points are typical published values for unrefined oils and vary with seed and batch. Cold-pressed oils are at their best in everyday cooking, tempering and shallow frying.
Good oil, brighter lives
Not sure where to start? Tell us what your family cooks most, and ask about pack sizes and current pricing.
Delivery: currently within Hyderabad only.