Peanut Oil: A Touch of Earthy Goodness
Peanut 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.
Our peanuts come from Havanur village in southern India. This region of the arid southern Deccan plateau is ideal for growing peanuts (or groundnuts as they are called, in India). Farmers inter-crop peanuts with millets, lentils and vegetables.
The oil is extracted in a rotary press by pressing and crushing the peanuts without adding any heat, which means the oil stays unoxidized 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 fritters or hash browns without any guilt.
You can buy them in the United States on Amazon.com
In India, its available on Amazon.in and Bigbasket.com
Peanuts (as they are more popularly called in the west) originated in South America, in Peru. They were then brought to North America, and to many parts of the colonized world, including Africa and Asia, in the 16th through 18th centuries. Today China, India and Nigeria are the leading producers of peanuts in the world.
It is called a nut, but is more like a lentil, also called a leguminous crop. It nourishes the soil, thus making it an ideal companion crop, and one for crop rotation.
It is the second largest oilseed crop in India. India is an exporter of peanuts and major destinations for exports are Asian countries like Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Philipines, Thailand, Ukraine and Pakistan. Peanut shells are used in mulching, brick-making and the packaging industry.
Peanuts have made themselves a home in the foods of all the regions they entered in the post-Columbian generations. Here is a West African lentil peanut soup that I absolutely love. Do try it out. The key to the recipe is the garnishing and roasting in peanut oil.
– Sujatha