Groundnut Oil: A Touch of Earthy Goodness
Groundnut oil at Daana is Cold-Pressed and Organic. It is a great combination of taste and health. Its deep yellow colour, pleasant nutty flavour and aroma add a special taste to the food you cook.
Veeresh from Havanur village in Karnataka grows groundnuts for the cold pressed groundnut oil available at Daana.
The oil is extracted in a rotary press by pressing and crushing the groundnuts without adding any heat, which means the oil stays unoxidised and fresh. It is ideal for sautéing, grilling, baking and deep-frying because of its high smoking point. In other words, you can indulge in crisp pakodas, samosas, vadas or fried chicken or fish without any guilt.
Highly rated by nutritionists, it boosts immunity, cuts down bad cholesterol and boosts the good one. It is rich in antioxidants to protect your body from harmful free radicals. Groundnut oil contains varied types of fatty acids such as oleic acid, stearic acid, palmitic acid and linoleic acid. The composition of fatty acids found in groundnut oils is safe and healthful. An imbalance in fatty acids can harm your health. Other organic compounds, vitamins and minerals add to the nutrition input of groundnut oil.
Groundnut is one of the important oilseed crops grown in tropical regions of the world. Scientifically known as Arachis hypogaea, it is a leguminous crop. Which means, growing this, automatically nourishes the soil with key nutrients.
It is the second largest oilseed crop in India. Gujarat is the leading state in groundnut production. Andhra, Telengana, Tamilnadu, Karnataka, Rajasthan, and Maharashtra are some of the other states. India is an exporter of groundnuts and major destinations for exports are Asian countries like Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Philipines, Thailand, Ukraine and Pakistan. Groundnut shells are used in mulching, brick-making and the packaging industry.
At Daana, we receive the oil in tin cans. It is checked for freshness, taste and is also visually inspected and filtered. It is then bottled and sealed and dispatched to customers. All information about the farmer is provided, so you know exactly who grew your groundnuts, when it was harvested and more.
English as we know is a funny language. The word peanuts came to mean little money. It is possible that the usage came into being when farm workers were compensated with the crop they harvested and found it was of little value.
Gujarat produces 40% of the country’s groundnut. In Gujarat, the seng daana is a staple which is consumed whenever hunger strikes, anytime anywhere. It can be found in every street corner roasting on hot coals. No rail or car journey is complete without a newspaper cone of roasted groundnuts.
Kadlekaya Parishe is an annual groundnut fair held in Karnataka where devotees offer groundnut pod garlands to Lord Basavanna at the Bull temple. Legend has it that bulls would charge into the groundnut fields of villages in the area every full moon night and destroy the crops. To stop this, villagers promised to offer their first crop to Lord Basavanna. They make garlands out of fresh groundnut pods and offer it to the deity. On the last day of the fair, villagers say the deity accepts the offerings of his devotees and leaves the empty shells on the streets as a sign of his blessings.
Groundnut oil is used to make the lip smacking avakaya pickle of Andhra. Watch this video to see how. Also please see our recipes section for more.