Baingan bharta in olive oil

The olive oil twist works quite well with some light Indian cooking. If nothing else, you could always try the olive oil tadka for the humble dal

The latest on olive oil is that it seems to be now fashionable in India to fry chaat in it. We could dismiss it as a marketing gimmick, but if the thought of crispy potato chaat in extra virgin olive oil, flavoured with a tangy masala destined to kill any Mediterranean notes, fills you with horror, it doesn’t mean that you should write off all Indian food cooked in this flavourful oil.

At its best, extra virgin olive oil that is green with grassy notes is prized as much for its flavour as for its health benefits. You could simply dip in some bread and make a meal of it. The latter need not always be pita or any of the Italian/French breads that we are used to. A crisp roti will do just fine. In fact, some chefs and foodies swear by their working lunches of crisp rotis smeared with olive oil and seasoned with anything from malted salt to roasted cumin powder! Hail cultural fusion.

Industrialist Anil Ambani favours the baigan ka bharta in olive oil served by executive chef Ravi Saxena at The Claridges, New Delhi. Aubergines, tomatoes, garlic and onions are all also Mediterranean vegetables from the same belt as the oil and, thus, benefit from the treatment. One thumb rule while cooking is to play around with ingredients belonging to the same region; you can’t go wrong that way. Though if you do want to used extra virgin oil for grilled meats (chicken tikkas, for instance), that too could be done successfully.

There is no point attempting to cook heavy Indian curries in extra virgin olive oil. The flavour is utterly lost amid the strong spices. I did try, on the other hand, a fairly successful badam pasande, an old Delhi recipe, in extra virgin olive oil (admittedly at the behest of a TV show sponsored by olive oil companies) with successful results. The recipe didn’t suffer and the resulting flavour was no different from what you would have got using refined oil.

It’s important not to combine olive oil with any other fat or oil while cooking. It can be harmful since different oils or fats have different smoking points. But contrary to popular perception, it is alright to fry in extra virgin olive oil. Indian cooking involves heat till about 180 degree C, while the smoking point of (extra virgin) olive oil is 200 degrees.

Olive oil companies entering the Indian market face a quandary. While worldwide extra virgin olive oil is prized, Indian customers, studies show, feel that it alters the taste of their home-cooking. So, for the mass market, companies are today selling either olive pomace oil (extracted from pomace that is the left over after the first two pressings that give you extra virgin olive oil and pure olive oil) or what they call “Lite” olive oil, which is essentially a blend of refined oils with a small quantity of virgin oil. These have neither the flavour, colour, smell nor the health benefits of the extra virgin oil.

The best way to use olive oil would be undoubtedly to use it in grills and roasts and in lightly sauteed vegetables. You could cook vegetables like bhindi by lightly using the dry masalas and then adding a dash of extra virgin olive oil at the end for a different flavour. Or stuff tomatoes with crushed corn kernels and onions and season with rock salt, pepper, and dry fenugreek leaves. Then add a dash of extra virgin olive oil and grill the stuffed tomatoes. Finally, there’s always the olive oil tadka for your humble dal.

[Anoothi Vishal is a Delhi-based freelance writer]