The kadhai of oil that keeps getting used again
Reheating the same oil builds up compounds linked to heart disease. FSSAI says it should ideally not be reused at all, and never more than three times.
After a batch of puris or pakoras, most kitchens pour the leftover oil into a steel dabba to use again. Street stalls often keep the same oil going for days, just topping it up.
Every time oil is heated to frying temperature it breaks down a little more. It darkens, turns thick and sticky, foams, and starts smoking at a lower heat. Along the way it forms trans fats and oxidised compounds, some of which damage blood vessels and have been linked to high blood pressure, inflammation and heart disease.
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India takes this seriously enough to have set a limit. Oil in which total polar compounds go above 25% is unfit to use, and FSSAI's advice is that cooking oil should ideally not be reused, and never more than three times. Large food businesses have to keep records and hand over used oil to be made into biodiesel rather than selling it on.
At home - Fry in a smaller kadhai so you need less oil in the first place. - If you do reuse oil, strain it, keep it covered, and use it within a day or two for tadka or light cooking rather than another round of deep frying. - Throw it out once it turns dark, feels sticky, smells sharp or smokes early. - Never mix old oil into fresh oil. It makes the new oil break down faster. - With street food, the colour of the oil in the kadhai tells you a lot. Very dark oil is a reason to walk on.
Where this comes from - Food Safety and Standards Authority of India. Used cooking oil regulations (2018) and the RUCO (Repurpose Used Cooking Oil) initiative.
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