From the kitchen
Til chikki at home, in three ingredients
Sesame, jaggery, a teaspoon of cold-pressed sesame oil. A Sankranti tradition in a tin.
The Journal
Reading from the press.
Essays from the family. Technique from the kitchen. The cultural notes that come with sixty years of pressing oil for Indian households.
Oil literacy
Storing Cold-Pressed Oil Through UAE Summer Heat
A kitchen guide to keeping mustard, sesame, groundnut and coconut oil fresh through Gulf summers — where to store the bottle, and what to watch for.
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Oil literacy
Groundnut vs sunflower vs mustard — which oil, for which pan?
The three bottles most Indian kitchens argue about, compared the way a press would compare them — by seed, by heat, and by what they do to the food.
Cultural
Deepam — lamp, light, and the oil that keeps it lit
The clay diya, the brass lamp, the temple thali, and the oil that has always been their fuel.
From the kitchen
Coconut oil for Kerala's avial — the technique
The avial is not a coconut-oil dish — except in the one moment that makes it one.
Heritage
Three generations, one ghaani
Each generation came to the press for a different reason. They all stayed.
From the kitchen
Karwa Chauth sweets in pure groundnut oil
Mathri, gond ke ladoo, panjiri — the Karwa Chauth sweets that ask for groundnut, not ghee alone.
From the kitchen
Sarson ka tel, the right way — four Bengali tadka principles
The first smoke, the second crackle, the third pour, the fourth rest. The Bengali way with mustard oil.
Oil literacy
Smoke point, simply — a chart and a guide
A practical guide to oil smoke points, written for the household kitchen and not the chemistry lab.
Oil literacy
Oil pulling with sesame — what the Ayurveda texts actually say
Gandusha. Kavala. The practice is older than the language we use to describe it. What it is, and what it isn't.
Oil literacy
Argemone adulteration — how to spot fake mustard oil
The most common food-fraud in Indian mustard oil, and the four tests a household can do at home.
Cultural
Why a clay diya needs an old oil, not a new one
Paraffin, kerosene, mineral oil — none of these belong in a clay lamp. The diya is older than petroleum.
Oil literacy
Refined vs cold-pressed — what changes inside the bottle
The two oils share a name and an ingredient. Nothing else.
Heritage
The press that hasn't stopped since 1965
Sixty years of one family pressing oil — from a shed in Bareilly in 1965 to mills in Rajasthan and Kerala today. The press is the family. The family is the press.