How to Use Mustard Oil in Daily Indian Cooking

A lot of people try sarson ka tel once, don’t like the strong smell, and switch back to their usual oil. The oil isn’t the problem. They just weren’t shown how to cook with it. Go to any home in Punjab, Bihar, Bengal or Odisha and you’ll see mustard oil used every single day, and the cooks there follow a few simple steps. Once you know those steps, wooden pressed black mustard oil is as easy to use as any other oil, whether you’re making sabzi, dal, pakoras or achar.

Heat It Right First

Most people miss this part. Mustard oil straight from the bottle is very sharp, and if masala goes in right away, the food smells too strong.

Pour the oil in the kadhai and keep it on medium flame. When a little smoke starts coming up and the colour gets slightly lighter, turn off the gas or lift the kadhai for a few seconds. Then add jeera, rai or hing. That's how Punjabi and Bengali homes cook with wooden pressed black mustard oil, and that's why their food doesn't taste harsh.

Just don't let it smoke for long. Around a minute is fine. If the oil burns, it turns bitter and so does the masala.

Tadka, Sabzi and Dal

After heating, cook with it like you would with any oil. Dry sabzis like aloo gobhi, bhindi, karela and baingan taste better in mustard oil. Sarson ka saag needs it, both for cooking and for the tadka on top.

For dal, heat some wooden pressed black mustard oil, add jeera, garlic and a dry red chilli, and pour it over the dal at the end. It tastes much better than a tadka in refined oil. Kadhi, rajma and chole are also good in it. You don't have to use extra oil. The taste is strong, so a little is enough, and a lot of families find they use less oil than before.

Like other cold pressed oils, it has its own taste. Refined oil has none, so it doesn't add anything to the food. Wooden pressed black mustard oil does.

Frying, Achar and Marinades

Wooden pressed black mustard oil works well at high heat, so you can use it for deep frying. Pakoras, puris, mathri and fried fish all turn out crisp. In Bengal, fish is rubbed with haldi and salt and fried in mustard oil before it goes into the jhol, and you can smell it from the next house. Heat the oil well before you start, and don't use the same oil again and again.

Achar is the most common use. Aam, nimbu, gobhi shalgam, almost every north Indian achar is made in mustard oil. Heat the oil till it smokes a little, let it cool fully and then pour it over the masala and vegetables. The oil also stops the achar from going bad, which is why a good jar of achar always has a layer of oil on top.

For tikka, mix a spoon of wooden pressed black mustard oil with dahi, ginger garlic paste and masala, and coat the paneer, chicken or fish in it. Dhaba tikka gets its sharp taste from this.

Using It Raw

Some dishes use mustard oil without heating it, because people want that sharp taste.

In Bihar, litti comes with aloo or baingan chokha, mashed with raw mustard oil, onion, green chilli and salt. In Bengal, plain boiled aloo is mashed with a few drops of raw mustard oil and green chilli and eaten with dal chawal. Jhalmuri sellers in Kolkata also add a little raw mustard oil. Use only a few drops for these, since raw mustard oil is very strong. And use pure wooden pressed black mustard oil from a brand you trust, because when the oil is raw, you can taste any difference in quality.

Cold pressed oils don't last as long as refined oil. Keep the bottle in a cupboard away from the gas and sunlight, close the cap tight every time, and finish it within a few months of opening.

About Matrika Natural Foods

Matrika Natural Foods makes cold pressed oils the traditional way, including black mustard, yellow mustard, groundnut, sesame and coconut oil, without chemicals or heat processing, in 1 litre packs. Their blog has a detailed post on why wooden pressed black mustard oil keeps more nutrition. You can order online or visit their stores in Ambala City and Zirakpur.

Summing Up

Cooking with mustard oil is easy once you know the basics. Heat it till it smokes a little, take it off the flame for a few seconds and then add the masala. Use it for tadka, sabzi, dal, frying, achar and tikka, and add a few raw drops to chokha or mashed aloo. Buy good quality cold pressed oils, keep the bottle away from heat, and wooden pressed black mustard oil can easily become your everyday cooking oil.