The Battle Royal of Oils
Oils are wonderful flavor enhancers, integral to most recipes, ideal for sauteing veggies, browning onions, and adding a sizzle and crust to meats. Adding a tadka with ghee/oil, red chili, and garlic on daals takes it to the next level of flavor.
But which oil is the best one to use?
We have all grappled with that question, one that doesn’t have an easy answer. Choosing the right oil is important for both flavor and health.
Cooking oils contain saturated, polyunsaturated, and monounsaturated fats, each of which can affect human health in different ways. We know that a lower intake of saturated fat coupled with a higher intake of polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats is associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease. For years, in India and the U.S., we have consumed refined oils (those not labeled as “cold pressed,” “extra virgin” or “expeller pressed”). These oils are extracted by solvents that give us a standardized oil by modifying their fatty acids. If the extraction is done by mechanical pressing (a fruit, seed, nut) it is considered a virgin oil.
Oils high in saturated fat tend to raise our LDL cholesterol, which can clog arteries and lead to heart disease and stroke. Oils like olive, avocado, sesame, and grapeseed are higher in unsaturated fat and healthier for the heart. When looking for a healthy cooking oil, experts recommend choosing one that’s liquid at room temperature. Oils that are solid at room temperature—such as coconut, palm, and palm kernel oil, as well as animal fats, such as butter, and ghee—contain higher amounts of saturated fat.
In my quest to find the best oil to use in my daily cooking, I asked friends what they used. Most use avocado oil. Then one day, a good friend introduced me to Mamatha Shekar, and she asked me why I would choose to use avocado oil instead of just eating an avocado. She said that we have a rich repertoire of seed oils and they might work better than oils from fruits.
The power of bull driven seed oils
Mamatha and her family went through a tough time during her dad’s cancer remission and then she started developing stress-induced melasma, which piqued her interest in alternative medicine. She started drinking one tablespoon of several different kinds of bull driven ghani oils on an empty stomach and noticed a huge difference in many of her symptoms. She then decided to leverage her deep experience in genomics and health informatics to form her own company (www.maadhev.com,) to make these oils accessible to all in the U.S.
What is ghani oil?
Kachi ghani refers to the cold press extraction process for taking out oil from seeds. For extracting mustard oil, mustard seeds are crushed at low temperatures so that the natural properties, antioxidants, and essential oils are retained in the oil.
What is bull driven ghani oil?
Bull driven ghani oil is extracted from raw materials without the use of chemicals or heat in a prescribed wooden mortar and pestle, where a bull is used to rotate the pestle to grind the raw materials. This method of oil extraction preserves the original nutrients such as antioxidants, vitamins, and natural properties of the material, as the oil is extracted at room temperature because of slow 1-3 rotations per minute. Besides a little water, no bleaching agent or any other chemical is added. The extracted oil is passed through a fine sieve. The oil is then left to settle for a few days, helping separate tiny solid particles by sedimentation. Only the top portion is scooped out to get clear oil without visible solids. Any water added for easy churning will evaporate during sedimentation.
Cold pressed vs bull driven oil
Bull driven oils, with their slower rotation and lower pressures during extraction, retain a higher percentage of their natural nutrients compared to cold-pressed oils, which use mechanized extraction processes at higher speeds and pressures.
Can’t decide? Use all in rotation
Most of my research points to these oils as being beneficial. I would also recommend using several oils in rotation, depending on what you are using them for. These are good to have in your pantry.
Olive oil: Rich in monounsaturated fats and antioxidants. Due to its depth of flavor, it’s great when used raw–drizzled on salads or pastas.
Avocado oil: Packed with oleic acid, a beneficial monounsaturated fat, and lutein (for eye health), it’s almost always processed naturally (without chemicals). Its light, mild taste, with subtle buttery undertones makes it ideal for most dishes.
Flaxseed oil: An excellent source of alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), a plant-based omega-3 fatty acid. Best eaten raw, drizzled on roasted potatoes/veggies, salads or pasta. Flaxseed oil is fragile and highly perishable, so it should be refrigerated and used within a few weeks of opening.
Sesame seed oil: Rich in antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties. With its nutty flavor profile, it is great for soups, tempering daals, and South Indian dishes.
Mamatha Shekar on bull driven oils in her life:
- Drinking one tablespoon in the morning (I have added safflower oil to the weekly regimen), has helped me and my husband lose weight
- Mixing them with salads. I use one oil each week, including avocado oil.
- In the past, I had done nasal irrigation to moisturize the nasal passage and stopped as I didn’t see a major impact and got lazy. After learning about bull driven oils, I took the nasal oil drops that I had purchased on Amazon and learned that it was made from refined sesame oil. I decided to give bull driven oils a try. As soon as I wake up, I apply 2 drops in each nostril by tilting my head slightly backward. I learned that this prevents paralysis.
- I rub sesame or safflower oil on my feet before going to sleep. My husband and I can vouch that this puts us into sound sleep and we feel fresh when we wake up. The skin feels like baby skin.
- For over two years, I have started oil pulling with bull driven oils. Many years ago, I used cold pressed coconut oil from Costco, but didn’t see any benefits, so I stopped. Now I notice a difference. I use Niger oil, but I hear that coconut and sesame oils are widely used too.
Photos by Laura Ohlman on Unsplash, and Roberta Sorge on Unsplash