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Indian cooking basically uses oil from the beginning of the process, typically starting with sautéing ginger and garlic, then adding shallots, chillies and onions. So the oil is on the fire for quite some time.

I would like to know whether any type of olive oil will be suitable for this type of cooking. Extra virgin olive oil seems to be out of the question from what I have read.

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It's not really the extended time on the fire which is the issue, but rather the high temperature reached. – nico Apr 15 '12 at 15:15
@nico What you have stated is actually a common misconception: The amount of time actually matters just as much as the temperature. More information is available in this question: cooking.stackexchange.com/questions/17605/… – ESultanik Mar 27 at 19:53
@ESultanik: I do not have access to the book linked in the question. Could you please cite a few examples of temperature/time equivalence (considering that Indian cooking generally needs high temperatures)? – nico Mar 27 at 21:20
@nico Unfortunately I no longer have a copy of that book (I borrowed it from a library). I just added a link to Wolke's article which does contain some good information, however, neither that article nor, IIRC, the book contains definitive temperature/time equivalence examples. – ESultanik Mar 28 at 14:39

5 Answers

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With Olive oils, the more refined they are, the higher their burning point. So you are correct, an Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil would be a terrible choice for Indian cooking (would cause effect on taste, smell, and nutrition) which has prolonged periods of sauteing on high heat.

Lower quality olive oils, or a light olive oil, interestingly, would be a better choice. They are much more refined like vegetable oils, so have a higher burning point. But at that point, you'd consider why are you using Olive oil?

Consider using refined butter (ghee) or coconut oil for Indian cooking. Ghee and Coconut oil will rarely smoke or burn and can stand high heat pretty well. I believe traditional Indian cooking uses ghee.

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Actually, Virgin Olive Oil is fine for high-temperature frying as long as it is completely filtered, which most of the oil sold in regular food stores is. Since only virgin olive oil is ever sold unfiltered (and unrefined), this causes common confusion about smoke points and frying temperatures vs. Pure olive oil, which is always filtered and refined. – FuzzyChef Apr 15 '12 at 6:18
up vote 11 down vote

Indian food is commonly cooked with ghee (clarified butter), for both religious and flavor reasons. Where ghee is not used, coconut or refined palm oil are common.

I can also tell you from experience that Indian food can be made with unflavored vegetable oils (canola, sunflower or soy), without a deleterious effect on flavor or texture.

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up vote 5 down vote

Mustard seed oil is also used traditionally for Indian food.

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Yeah, good point. I'd forgotten about mustard oil. Mind you, it's is pretty hard to get outside Asia. – FuzzyChef Apr 16 '12 at 3:17
up vote 2 down vote

Indian cooking is mainly dependent on coconut oil or sunflower oil. Coconut oil is widely used in coastal parts of southern India. Olive oil might not give the same taste as you get in coconut oil. There are some dishes that could only be prepared using coconut oil.

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up vote 0 down vote

indian food tastes best in peanut oil.

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Can you elaborate why peanut oil is best? Otherwise this is just an opinion and not really an objective answer. – Jay Mar 28 at 1:33

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