Light, Pure or Extra Virgin Olive Oil for Indian Cooking – Which is better?

When you’re out there in the market looking for a good cooking oil, you come across a plethora of oil choices and a multiple range of associated questions. One of them is, what’s the basic difference between pure olive oil, light olive oil and extra virgin olive oil? Since all of these are made using olives, what makes one better than the other two? The answer lies in the way how these three types of oils are extracted and processed. However, extra virgin olive oil is the best for Indian cooking.

Nutritional values in Olive Oil 

Olives are one of the most nutritious laden fruits used for preparing cooking oil. They contain a good amount of fat-soluble Vitamin E, which in turn, is a great source of polyphenol antioxidants. Since they contain low saturated fats, they make for an ideal choice for preparing oil for a variety of cooking purposes, including baking, stir-frying, salads, and dressings. Olive oil speaks of least or no content of cholesterol as it’s a fruit-based product.

Light Olive Oil

Light olive oil, or otherwise known as extra light olive oil, as the name says, is the lowest grade of olive oil available in the market. The oil producers typically make use special chemicals and heat process to eradicate impurities, churning out an oil which is lighter in flavour and color, both, when compared to virgin olive oil. Many a times, the oil type is amalgamated with other oils such as canola to produce healthy oils. It’s least expensive and a perfect one for baking purposes.

Pure Olive Oil

It’s usually a classic blend of small amount of extra virgin olive oil and processed olive oil. What makes this better than light and extra virgin olive oil is the fact that it gives a strong flavour in baking, as well as cooking. Pure olive oil is typically less expensive than extra virgin olive oil. It also gives a good completion to other types of oils produced by many vegetable oil brands in India.

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

This is the highest quality of olive oil available in the market with a flavour that outrights its other two variants. The oil is manufactured by first cold pressing the olives and pits. This means that no chemicals or heat is used for obtaining the oil. If in the case the heat or chemicals are used, the name “Extra Virgin Olive Oil” loses its “Extra” in the transit and becomes Virgin Olive oil. The oil type is ideal for preparing salad dressings, stir frying foods, and preparing dips.