Golden brown Kebabs, spicy Biryani, Chatpata Chaat, Chinese Chow Mein, Hot Gulab Jamun and Black Forest Pastry can make anyone lick its lips. Do you know which is the single common ingredient in all the above-mentioned items? Yes, you guessed it right. It is oil. Without oil, it is just impossible to cook all these lip-smacking dishes.
Oil is one of the important ingredients for cooking. More or less, oil is used in almost all the dishes, whether a salted, spicy dish or a sweet dish. Oil is also a source of the vital nutrient 'fat'. It is also known as liquid fat.
Oil provides richness and flavor to your recipe. Flavor of your culinary items depends on the quality and quantity of oil that you use for cooking. Oil is added to a food depending on the quantity of items which are being cooked. It performs different culinary functions.
Spices alone cannot produce the mouth-watering aroma and flavor until they are fried well in adequate quantity of oil. Oil helps in blending the spices. It is a kind of chemical reaction between the liquid fat and the spices which produces a fantastic aroma, bringing water in your mouth. Besides providing tenderness to food, oil makes the dishes more attractive. It gives a shiny, creamy and fluffy appearance to the food.
An important quality of oil is that it can be heated to comparatively high temperatures without evaporation, aiding in frying and cooking food quickly.
The liquid fat performs numerous chemical functions in the baking process. Oil helps in tenderizing, fermentation, retaining moisture and producing crumbly texture. While baking, oil transfers heat to foods, preventing them from sticking to the pan. Oil also retains the heat in food, softens sauces and gives a crispy texture to the fried food items.
