Ask three Maharashtrian households which oil they cook with and you can get three different answers. Shengdana (groundnut) in one, kardai (safflower) in another, khobrel (coconut) in a Konkan kitchen, with a small bottle of til (sesame) kept aside for winter. Add the wood-pressed versions sold by women's groups, plus sunflower, mustard and jawas, and the oil shelf gets confusing quickly.
The short answer: choose the oil by the food you cook most, not by the label. For everyday bhaji, amti and faral frying, groundnut or safflower. For a lighter, quieter taste, sunflower. For Konkan and Kolhapur-style cooking, coconut. Sesame and mustard are strong-flavoured oils for specific dishes and pickles, and jawas (flaxseed) is an oil you use raw, not one you heat. If you're switching from refined oil, buy a 500 ml or 1 litre bottle first, because the flavour is stronger than you may expect.
What do âwood-pressedâ and âcold-pressedâ tell you?
âWood-pressedâ or âlakdi ghanaâ describes the pressing equipment or method claimed by the producer. It does not, on its own, prove the pressing temperature or whether the oil was refined afterwards. In Codex terminology, cold-pressed oil is obtained mechanically without applying heat. Ask the maker about heating, filtering and refining if those details affect your choice. Our guide to what SHG food labels actually mean explains how to check processing and certification claims.
You'll see a lot of health language on oil packaging. We aren't repeating any of it here. Every oil is fat, and what matters for most kitchens is taste, the food you cook and how much you use.
Shengdana (groundnut): the everyday all-rounder
If you only buy one wood-pressed oil, this is the safest choice. It has a clear, nutty smell and taste that suits Maharashtrian food well: tadka for varan and amti, bhaji, poha, thalipeeth, and shallow-frying. In many homes it's also the oil Diwali faral is fried in, so it's the one to stock up on before chakli season.
- SARASWATI Groundnut (Shengdana) Oil, 1000 g, âš430, Saraswati Mahila SHG, Bhandara. The best value per litre on this page.
- ORGANIC ORIGINS Groundnut Oil, 910 g, âš447, Sakhi SHG, Kolhapur.
- RAGHAVI Groundnut Oil, Raghavi SHG, Yavatmal: 500 ml at âš315 or 1000 ml at âš535.
One caution: if anyone at home has a peanut allergy, unrefined groundnut oil isn't the oil to experiment with. The same applies to sesame and mustard oils for people allergic to those seeds.
Kardai (safflower): Marathwada's oil
Kardai is grown widely across Marathwada and the Solapur side of the state, and in a lot of homes there kardai tel is simply "the oil". It's milder than groundnut, with a slightly earthy taste and a lighter feel, so it works well when you want the masala to lead. Use it exactly as you'd use groundnut oil, for tadka, bhaji and frying.
- KALIKA Safflower Oil, 500 ml, âš268, from Ahilyanagar. A sensible first bottle if you've never cooked with kardai.
- ORGANIC ORIGINS Safflower Oil, 910 g, âš471, Sakhi SHG, Kolhapur.
Surajmukhi (sunflower): the quietest of the lot
Wood-pressed sunflower oil still has some flavour, but it's the most neutral oil here. That makes it a good bridge if your family is used to refined sunflower oil and finds groundnut too strong, and it suits baking and dishes where you don't want the oil to taste of anything in particular.
- ORGANIC ORIGINS Sunflower Oil, 910 g, âš471, Sakhi SHG, Kolhapur.
- SAKSHAM Sunflower Oil, Saksham SHG, Palghar: 200 ml at âš238, 500 ml at âš358 or 1000 ml at âš598.
- DURGA Sunflower Oil, 500 ml, âš396, Durgadevi SHG, Pune.
Khobrel tel (coconut): Konkan cooking, and it sets in winter
In many Konkan homes coconut oil is the cooking oil, especially for fish curry and coconut-based masalas. It has a clear coconut smell, so it suits those dishes and can feel out of place in a Desh-style amti.
Coconut oil can become white and solid in cooler weather. That change alone can be normal, but it does not prove the oil is fresh: also check its date, storage history and any unexpected smell. To liquefy it, stand the tightly closed bottle in warm water, following the containerâs care instructions. Wide-mouth jars are easier to scoop from in winter.
- ORGANIC ORIGINS Coconut Oil, Sakhi SHG, Kolhapur: 200 g at âš219, 500 g at âš375 or 1000 g at âš662.
- DURGA Coconut Oil, 500 ml, âš274, Durgadevi SHG, Pune.
Til (sesame): a strong oil for particular dishes
Indian til oil is pressed from raw sesame, so it's golden and nutty. It is not the same as the dark, toasted sesame oil used in Chinese and Korean cooking, which tastes much stronger and is used a few drops at a time. Til oil has a distinct flavour, so most families use it for particular things rather than every dish: some chutneys and pickles, winter cooking around Sankranti, and South Indian dishes such as podi with idli.
Black sesame oil is pressed from black til and is usually darker and stronger than the white. If you're not sure which you want, start with white.
- ORGANIC ORIGINS White Sesame Oil, Sakhi SHG, Kolhapur: 200 g at âš255, 500 g at âš495 or 1000 g at âš902.
- RAGHAVI Sesame Oil, 500 ml, âš508, Raghavi SHG, Yavatmal.
- ORGANIC ORIGINS Black Sesame Oil, Sakhi SHG, Kolhapur: 200 g at âš303, 500 g at âš519 or 1000 g at âš986.
Mohari (mustard): sharp, pungent, and a pickle oil
Wood-pressed mustard oil has a sharp, nose-tingling pungency. It's the everyday cooking oil in much of north and east India, but in Maharashtrian kitchens it mostly turns up in pickles and the odd north Indian dish. Follow the bottleâs cooking directions and control the heat without deliberately letting the oil smoke. If you make your own lonche, a small bottle is worth having. Our mango pickle guide covers the pickles themselves.
- SARASWATI Mustard (Mohari) Oil, Saraswati Mahila SHG, Bhandara: 100 g at âš178 or 200 g at âš250.
- ORGANIC ORIGINS Mustard Oil, Sakhi SHG, Kolhapur: 200 g at âš231, 500 g at âš375 or 1000 g at âš567.
Jawas (flaxseed): use it raw, buy it small
Jawas is well known in Maharashtra as the seed behind jawas chutney. The oil is a different thing to handle from every other oil on this page: it goes stale quickly once opened, and it isn't meant for heating. People who buy it generally use it raw, a spoonful over chutney, dahi or a salad. So buy the smallest bottle, keep it in the fridge after opening, and finish it within a few weeks. If it starts to smell like old paint or fish, it has gone rancid; throw it out.
- SARASWATI Flaxseed (Jawas) Oil, Saraswati Mahila SHG, Bhandara: 100 g at âš178 or 200 g at âš250.
- ORGANIC ORIGINS Flaxseed (Jawas) Oil, Sakhi SHG, Kolhapur: 200 g at âš279.
Grams or millilitres? Comparing prices properly
Some of these oils are sold by weight (910 g, 1000 g) and some by volume (500 ml, 1000 ml), which makes side-by-side comparison awkward. A litre of cooking oil weighs roughly 910â930 g. So a 910 g bottle is about one litre, and a 1000 g bottle is a little more than a litre, about 1.08 litres.
Converted on that basis, here's roughly what each oil costs per litre for the selected listed pack:
| Oil | Pack | Price | â Per litre |
|---|---|---|---|
| SARASWATI Groundnut | 1000 g | âš430 | â âš395 |
| ORGANIC ORIGINS Groundnut | 910 g | âš447 | â âš450 |
| ORGANIC ORIGINS Safflower / Sunflower | 910 g | âš471 | â âš475 |
| ORGANIC ORIGINS Mustard | 1000 g | âš567 | â âš520 |
| RAGHAVI Groundnut | 1000 ml | âš535 | âš535 |
| KALIKA Safflower | 500 ml | âš268 | â âš536 |
| DURGA Coconut | 500 ml | âš274 | â âš548 |
| SAKSHAM Sunflower | 1000 ml | âš598 | âš598 |
| ORGANIC ORIGINS Coconut | 1000 g | âš662 | â âš610 |
| ORGANIC ORIGINS White Sesame | 1000 g | âš902 | â âš830 |
| RAGHAVI Sesame | 500 ml | âš508 | â âš1,015 |
Treat these as a rough guide: the exact weight per litre varies a little from oil to oil.
Cooking with wood-pressed oil: four practical things
- Control the heat. Follow the oilâs cooking instructions and avoid overheating. If oil begins to smoke, reduce the heat rather than treating smoke as a preparation step.
- Expect the oil to taste of something. Groundnut oil in a sheera or sweet will be noticeable. Many families keep ghee for sweets and use oil for savoury food. See our cow vs buffalo ghee guide if you're choosing one.
- Avoid repeated frying with the same oil. FSSAIâs used cooking oil guidance recommends avoiding repeated use for frying. Straining out crumbs does not reverse deterioration. Discard used oil showing the guidanceâs warning signs, such as blue-grey smoke, tough foam or dark, murky appearance.
- Check changes in appearance. Ask the maker whether settling or cloudiness is expected for this particular product, and follow its storage guidance. Appearance alone does not establish freshness or safety.
Storing it so it stays fresh
- Away from the stove and the window. Heat and light are what make oil go stale. A closed cupboard is better than the shelf above the gas.
- Cap on tight after every use.
- Buy what you'll finish in a month or two. Unrefined oil doesn't keep as long as refined oil once opened. For a small household, two 500 ml bottles can be a better buy than one big one, even at a slightly higher price per litre.
- Smell it. Fresh oil smells of its seed. Oil that smells sharp, bitter or like old crayons has gone rancid and will spoil the food.
A note on names: "ORGANIC ORIGINS" is a brand name. The listings don't show an organic certification, so read it as a name rather than a claim. Our labels guide explains why that distinction matters.
Quick questions
What is kardai oil in English?
Kardai (ŕ¤ŕ¤°ŕ¤Ąŕ¤, also written kardi or karadi) is safflower. Kardai tel is safflower oil.
Is wood-pressed oil the same as cold-pressed oil?
Not automatically. Wood-pressed describes the equipment or method claimed by the maker; cold-pressed describes mechanical extraction without applying heat. A wooden press alone does not establish the temperature used or later processing. Ask about both before treating the terms as equivalent.
Why has my coconut oil gone white and solid?
Coconut oil can solidify in cooler weather. Solidification alone can be normal, but it does not establish freshness. Check the date and storage history, and follow the packâs directions before warming the closed container in water.
Which oil should I use for Diwali faral?
Groundnut is the usual choice in Maharashtrian homes, and safflower works too. Both handle frying well at medium heat. Avoid jawas (flaxseed) oil for frying entirely.
Can I use til oil for everyday cooking?
You can, but its flavour is strong enough that most families keep it for particular dishes. Indian til oil is not the dark toasted sesame oil used in Chinese cooking.
Why is wood-pressed oil more expensive than refined oil?
Compare the actual listing price, pack quantity and stated process. Seed costs, production scale, packaging and other factors can affect a price; the label alone does not establish why a particular bottle costs more. A higher price is not proof of a health benefit.
Product listings and prices above were checked on 8 October 2026 and can change. Browse more in the Edible Oils & Desi Ghee collection.
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