How to Cook with Extra Virgin Olive Oil
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Short answer: you can cook with extra virgin olive oil. It is suited to everyday sautéing, bhunna masala at medium heat, roasting, shallow frying and baking. It is at its best used raw, drizzled over food at the end, where its flavour and antioxidants are untouched. The one job it is less suited to is long, very hot deep frying of large batches.
The old advice that olive oil “can’t be heated” comes from a misunderstanding about smoke point. Good extra virgin oil starts to smoke at around 190 to 210°C, which is above most home cooking. It is also rich in heat-stable monounsaturated fat and natural antioxidants, so it breaks down more slowly than many seed oils at the same temperature.
Everyday ways to use it
1. Finishing: the best use of all
A spoonful stirred into daal or chana just before serving, drizzled over hummus, or brushed onto a hot roti or paratha gives you the full fresh flavour and all of the polyphenols, because nothing has been heated away. This is where the difference between extra virgin and ordinary oil is most obvious.
2. Bhunna masala and sautéing
For onions, tomatoes and spices over medium heat, extra virgin olive oil works well. Keep the flame at medium rather than high, and don’t let the pan smoke. Many cooks start the masala in olive oil and add a little extra at the end for aroma.
3. Tarka
A quick tarka of cumin, garlic and dried chilli in olive oil is fine. Heat the oil until it shimmers, add the spices and pour it over straight away. The short cooking time keeps its character.
4. Salads and raw vegetables
Whisk three parts olive oil to one part lemon juice or vinegar with salt and a little black pepper. The fat also helps your body absorb the fat-soluble vitamins in the vegetables.
5. Roasting vegetables
Toss aloo, gobhi, baingan, bhindi or peppers in olive oil, season and roast at 200°C until the edges brown. The oil keeps them moist inside and crisp outside.
6. Marinades
Mix olive oil with yoghurt or lemon juice, garlic, ginger and spices for chicken tikka, fish or paneer. The oil carries the flavour of the spices into the food and stops it drying out on the grill.
7. Baking
In most cake and muffin recipes you can replace melted butter or oil with olive oil. Use about three quarters of the amount of butter. It gives a moist crumb and a light fruity note.
8. Eggs and shallow frying
Fried eggs, omelettes, shami kababs and aloo tikki are all fine in a thin layer of olive oil over medium heat. For the full answer on pakoras and deep frying, see can you fry with olive oil.
When another oil makes more sense
- Deep frying large batches of pakoras or samosas, where the oil sits at high heat for a long time and is often reused. Olive oil can do it, but it is expensive for the job, and reused oil loses its benefits quickly.
- Dishes where you want no flavour of oil at all, such as some mithai. Good extra virgin oil has a taste, and that’s part of its point.
Practical tips
- Heat the pan first, then add the oil, and cook at medium heat. If the oil smokes, the heat is too high.
- Keep one bottle for cooking and use it up. An open bottle loses freshness within a few months, so Zuriyat recommends finishing ours within three to four months of opening.
- Store it away from the stove. The heat next to a hob ages oil faster than anything else in the kitchen. See how to store olive oil.
- Measure it. A tablespoon is about 120 calories, and it is easy to pour three.
Frequently asked questions
Can I use extra virgin olive oil for desi cooking every day?
Yes. It suits most everyday Pakistani cooking at medium heat. Many families use it for salan and daal and finish dishes with a fresh drizzle.
Does heating olive oil make it harmful?
No. At normal cooking temperatures extra virgin olive oil is stable. Heating reduces some of its antioxidants, which is why it is worth using some of it raw as well.
What is the smoke point of extra virgin olive oil?
Around 190 to 210°C for a good, fresh oil. It is lower for old or poor-quality oil, which is one more reason to buy fresh and store it well.
Can I use olive oil instead of ghee?
In most dishes, yes. The flavour is different, lighter and fruitier, and it is much lower in saturated fat. Some cooks use a mix of both.
Ready to cook with it? See Zuriyat extra virgin olive oil, pressed and bottled in Pakistan.