Why we cook in groundnut and gingelly oil

Our menu says we cook in cold-pressed groundnut and gingelly oil, and customers sometimes ask whether this is just a label. It is a fair question, so here is what it means in our kitchen, and what we do not claim for it.

Cold-pressed oil is pressed from seeds in a slow wooden or steel chekku without high heat or chemical solvents, then simply filtered. The oil keeps the smell and taste of the seed. Groundnut oil gives a nutty depth to our poriyals and our dosas, and gingelly oil, the traditional nallennai of Tamil Nadu, is used in our kuzhambu, our idli podi and our pickles, where its taste matters most. Refined oils taste of almost nothing, which is useful in some kitchens and not in ours.

We buy both oils from an oil mill near Pollachi that presses to our order every two weeks, so it is always fresh. It costs us about 40 percent more than refined oil, which is part of why our dishes are priced as they are. For deep frying vadas and bajji, we use groundnut oil, which handles the heat of the kadai well, and we change it daily rather than topping it up.

We do not say cold-pressed oil is a health food or a cure for anything; oil is oil, and we use it in moderate amounts. We use it because it makes our food taste the way Kongu home food tastes. If you have a sesame or peanut allergy, please tell us, and we will tell you exactly which dishes to avoid.