7 ways to reduce oil use in cooking

Following proposals from traders, the government has decided to increase the prices of soybean and palm oil. Meanwhile, our traditional cooking style usually involves heavy use of oil and spices. Yet, with a little awareness, oil consumption can be reduced significantly.

Daily calorie intake should ideally include 25–30 per cent from oils and fats. But this doesn’t have to come entirely from edible oil. Here are seven effective ways to cut down on oil use in cooking.

Common foods such as rice and bread provide carbohydrates, while fish, meat, milk, eggs, pulses, nuts, and seeds provide protein, many of which also supply the body with oil. Therefore, using excess cooking oil is often unnecessary.

For a family of five, only 20–25 millilitres of edible oil is needed daily. This means such a family could do with less than one litre (around 750ml) oil per month.

One gram of oil or fat contains nine kilocalories of energy. Excess oil and fat intake means excess calories. Moreover, cooking with high heat makes edible oil harmful to the body.

1. Use non-stick pots or frying pans, brushing in just a little oil, and covering it with a lid. Nowadays, roasting pans or air fryers are also used for low-oil cooking.

2. Instead of frying some foods in deep oil, try baking with little or no oil. Fish, meat, or vegetables can be steamed or boiled first, then combined with desired ingredients and baked.

3. Measure oil with a spoon rather than pouring directly from the bottle into the cooking pot. This makes it easier to keep track of daily use.

4. While cooking with spices, reduce oil by sautéing them with small amounts of water instead.

5. Vegetables are rich in minerals and vitamins, but prolonged high-heat cooking destroys much of their nutrition. Steaming vegetables preserves nutrients best, while salads and soups also require little or no oil.

6. For those who find it hard to eat vegetables without oil, steam them first and then toss in a little tempering of Pachforon (mixed spices ), cumin, or fried onion, garlic. Alternatively, a few drops of olive oil can be added to steamed vegetables or salads.

7. Fish and meat can be marinated with spices or sour yoghurt and then slow-cooked on medium heat without extra oil. Natural oils released from the fish or meat during cooking creates a similar effect to using added oil.