Frying questionsતળવાના સવાલ
Hot oil is the one thing in a home kitchen where getting it wrong hurts as well as disappoints. These answers cover oil temperature, crispness, reuse and safety in plain terms. Read the last one before you next stand over a kadai.
How do I know the oil is hot enough without a thermometer?
Drop a small pinch of batter or dough into the oil and watch it. If it sinks and then rises steadily in about three or four seconds with a ring of fine bubbles, the oil is around 170 to 180 degrees, which is right for bhajiya, samosa and most things. If it sits on the bottom and spreads, the oil is too cool and the food will drink it. If it shoots straight up and browns in a second, the oil is too hot and the outside will colour before the inside cooks. Puri wants it a little hotter, hot enough that a scrap of dough surfaces in about two seconds. A dry wooden spoon handle held in the oil gives a steady fringe of small bubbles at frying heat. Whatever goes in must be dry: water in hot oil throws spitting oil out of the kadai, so never put a wet finger or a wet spoon in.
Why do my bhajiya go soggy?
There are four causes, and usually more than one at a time. The oil was not hot enough, so steam left slowly and oil went in to take its place. Too many bhajiya went in at once, which drops the oil temperature by twenty or thirty degrees and does the same thing. The batter was thin and watery, so there was no coat to crisp — a besan batter should cling to the vegetable and not run off the spoon. And then they were piled on a plate, where the steam from the bottom layer soaks the one above. Fry batches that cover no more than half the oil surface, let the oil come back up to temperature between batches, and lay them out in a single layer on a rack or a perforated plate, uncovered. If they have to wait, a one-minute second fry at a higher heat brings the crispness back better than anything else.
Single fry or double fry — what is the difference?
Double frying means cooking the food through at a moderate heat first, resting it, then giving it a short second fry at a higher heat only to build the crust. The first fry at around 150 to 160 degrees drives the water out of the inside without letting the outside colour. Resting for ten minutes or more lets the surface dry and the steam inside settle. The second fry at 180 to 190 degrees for one to two minutes then sets a hard, dry crust that stays crisp much longer, because less water is left underneath to soften it. It is worth doing for potato chips and french fries, for samosa and kachori, and for bhajiya you have to make ahead for guests. It is not worth it for thin things that cook in a minute anyway, like fafda or papad. The mistake is making the first fry too hot — the crust colours before the centre is done.
How many times can frying oil be reused, and when must it go?
As a working rule, two or three times for the same sort of food if you strain it and store it properly, and once only if you fried fish or anything heavily spiced in it, because the smell and flavour carry over. Batter-fried food dirties oil fastest, since loose besan burns and settles in it. Strain the oil through a fine sieve or muslin while it is warm but not hot, keep it in a closed steel or glass container away from light and the stove, and avoid topping up old oil with fresh. Throw it out when the colour has gone dark brown, when it smells sour or stale as you open the container, when it foams at the edges and the foam does not subside, when it has thickened or gone sticky, or when it starts smoking at a heat that used to be fine. Any one of those signs is enough.
Why do some things absorb so much oil?
Oil enters a food only when steam stops coming out of it. While the water inside is boiling off, the pressure pushes outwards and oil cannot get in; the moment the food cools or the water runs low, oil moves in to fill the space. That is why cool oil is the biggest single cause of greasy food — slow frying means weak steam for a long time. Three other things make it worse: a loose or very thin batter, which lets oil through; too much soda or baking powder, which leaves an open honeycomb inside for oil to sit in; and a soft, wet dough, which is why over-kneaded puri dough soaks. Most of the oil is taken up as the food cools rather than while it fries, so lift it out, hold the slotted spoon over the kadai for ten seconds and set it on a rack. Draining a hot item properly beats any trick in the batter.
Kadai or flat pan for frying?
A kadai for deep frying and a flat pan for shallow frying, and the reason is the shape. The curved base of a kadai gives you depth in the middle from a small quantity of oil, so the food floats free and cooks evenly all round without much turning. A heavy iron or thick-bottomed kadai also holds its heat, so the temperature drops less when cold food goes in. A flat pan spreads the same oil into a thin sheet, so the item sits half out of it, browns unevenly, has to be turned repeatedly and gets a rim where the oil line sat. For a tikki, cutlet or a handvo-style shallow fry, that is exactly what you want. Whatever the shape, never fill a pan more than halfway with oil: wet food makes the oil rise and foam, and that is how oil goes over the side onto the flame.
Why does my puri drink oil instead of puffing?
Nearly always the dough is at fault, not the oil. Puri dough must be stiffer than roti dough — the same flour with noticeably less water, kneaded firm, and rested covered for only ten to fifteen minutes. A soft dough, or one left an hour, goes slack, will not seal, and soaks oil instead of inflating. The second cause is oil that is not hot enough: puri needs it hotter than bhajiya, hot enough that a scrap of dough surfaces in about two seconds, so the outside sets at once and the steam inside has nowhere to go but up. Roll with a smear of oil rather than dry flour, because loose flour burns in the kadai, darkens the oil and sticks to the next puri. Keep the thickness even, slide it in rather than dropping it, and press it gently under the oil with the back of a slotted spoon for a second or two until it balloons.
What is the right way to drain fried food?
Lift it with a slotted spoon and hold it over the kadai for five to ten seconds first, so the oil on the surface runs back while it is still thin and hot. Then put it in a single layer on a wire rack, or on a sieve or perforated tray set over a plate, so air reaches it from below as well. Do not pile it, do not cover it, and do not shut it in a dabba while it is hot, because the steam it gives off has nowhere to go and comes back in as sogginess. Kitchen paper is fine for the first minute to take up surface oil, but a heap sitting on paper steams itself just the same. Salt and chaat masala go on while the item is hot, since they stick to a warm surface. Something that has gone cold needs shaking off and a short second fry, not more salt.
Can I fry straight from frozen, or straight from the fridge?
Fry frozen things from frozen, but knock the loose ice off first, and never fry anything wet. Ice and water turn to steam the instant they touch oil and expand violently, which is exactly what makes oil spit and climb the sides of the kadai. So shake off the frost, do not leave frozen samosa, kachori or fries out to thaw, and lower them in with a spoon rather than dropping them from a height. Frozen food pulls the oil temperature down hard, so start a little hotter, around 180 degrees, and fry small batches of four or five pieces, letting the oil recover in between. Chilled batter or a rested dough from the fridge is better brought to room temperature for fifteen minutes first, because a cold centre takes longer to cook, and that extra time in the oil is exactly when oil goes in. Never cover a kadai of frying oil.
What does it mean when the oil starts smoking?
Visible smoke means the oil has gone past its smoke point and is breaking down. It will taste acrid, it will burn the outside of the food before the inside cooks, and it is heading towards the temperature at which it can catch fire. Oils differ — refined groundnut, sunflower and rice bran oil are comfortable at frying heat, while cold-pressed and unrefined oils smoke much lower, and every reuse brings the smoke point down further. If oil starts smoking, turn the flame off, slide the kadai onto a cold burner and let it cool; do not add food to bring it down.
If oil ever catches fire, turn off the heat and cover the kadai with a tight metal lid or a flat tray to cut off the air. Never throw water on burning oil — the water turns to steam instantly and throws burning oil across the kitchen. Do not pick the pan up and carry it outside either.