By Niveditha Kalyanaraman
September 20th, 2023
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Oil is a versatile base for almost every food item. Vegetable oils are extracted from plants and are used for frying, baking and cooking of foods. There are a wide variety of cooking oils used in India. Here are 7 different types of cooking oils in India.
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Golden in colour in India, with many variations in other East Asian countries, this oil is extracted from sesame seeds and has a host of other usage in cosmetics and Ayurveda, apart from cooking.
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It is a fatty vegetable oil made from mustard seeds and has a distinctive taste. The mustard plant is used as a spice in India, leaves eaten as mustard greens and India is the fourth largest producer of mustard oil seeds in the world.
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Hosts highly saturated fat content, coconut oil is mostly found in food in Karnataka and in malayali cuisine. It's also used as hair oil and has a number of hair health benefits.
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Most commonly used edible oil for cooking, it has different amounts of fatty acids.
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Soybean oil is another popular and widely consumed cooking oil of India, used for frying and baking. This vegetable oil is extracted from soybean seeds.
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Rice bran oil is extracted from the outer brown layer of raw rice. It is very popular as a cooking oil in India as well as in several Asian countries. This edible oil is also used in cosmetics.
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Safflower seed oil is a rich source of fatty acids, extracted from the seeds of Safflower plant. It is colorless and is used mainly in cosmetics, salad dressing and as a cooking oil. The flowers of Safflower are used in cooking as a substitute for saffron.
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