Vegetable Oils

The bottle labeled “vegetable oil” may actually contain any number of processed oils such as safflower, corn, soybean, cottonseed, and others. Canola oil, made from rapeseed, a relative of cabbage and broccoli, is produced almost exclusively in Canada (hence, the name) and has become one of the most common cooking oils in the West. It is a neutral, all-purpose cooking medium. Malaysia is the leader in the production of palm oil, a commonly used oil whose health attributes can be argued on both sides. Store-bought coconut oil is almost solely used in Indian cooking. The This, however, also render a fragrant coconut fat from thick coconut milk as a primary step to creating many curries. Some refer to this as “cracking the coconut milk.”