Canola cook-off at Bangalore

Canola Council of Canada sponsored a Canola Cook-off event at JW Marriott, Bangalore to spread awareness about Canola oil. I am so glad I attended the event. I learned some interesting cooking and nutrition facts related to Canola oil which I am sharing in this post...

The event was held at the beautiful Spice Terrace restaurant at JW Marriott...

Bruce Jowett, vice president of market development at the Canola Council of Canada spoke about the health benefits of Canola oil and the reasons why it is considered as one of the best oils for heart health...

Canola oil comes from the seeds of the canola plant. Once harvested, canola seeds are crushed and the oil contained within the seed is extracted. The average canola seed is 45% oil.

Canola oil is heart-healthy. It has the least saturated fat of any common cooking oil. In fact, it has less than half the saturated fat of olive or soybean oil...

Canola oil is one of the healthiest cooking oils because it is:

• Free of trans fat and cholesterol
• Low in saturated fat
• High in monounsaturated fat that reduces risk of heart disease
• High in omega-3 fat
• A source of omega-6 fat

Canola is a very stable oil that doesn’t break down at high temperatures, so it’s ideal for sautéing, stir-frying, deepfrying and other high-heat applications. Its smoke point — the temperature at which it begins to smoke and degrade — is one of the highest of all cooking oils at 468 °F (242 °C). That’s well above ideal deep-frying temperatures (365-375 °F or 185-190 °C).

“Canola oil is one of the friendliest and versatile cooking oil which you can use for all types of food.” says Chef Jolly, director of food and beverage, at the JW Marriott Bangalore.

With a bottle of Canola oil in hand, chef Jolly started demonstrating how well Canola oil works with Indian cuisine...

He made Khada Desi Palak (stir-fried baby spinach) canapés with Missi roti base. Here's the recipe I figured by watching him cook:

1. Fry cumin seeds, chopped garlic and ginger julienne.
2. Add chopped tomatoes and fry
3. Add blanched spinach and stir fry till the oil separates
4. Make mini missi roti with a dough made of wheat flour mixed with boiled black gram(sabut urad dal) and  split Bengal gram (Chana dal)
5. Top the missi roti base with the stir fried spinach and yoghurt whipped with garlic cheese.

The neutral taste of Canola oil did help in preserving the original flavors of the ingredients in the dish...

The next dish was Mirch Khilma Achar, stuffed batter fried Indian Jalapenos. Here's the recipe:

1. Cut the Jalapenos and stir fry to remove moisture. 
2. In another pan splutter some cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds and black-caraway (kalonji)
3. Add chopped chilies, garlic and ginger
4. Add boiled Mung Bean (Moong dal) and stir fry
5. Add Coriander powder, mango powder (aam chur) and garam masala
6. Stuff the Jalapenos with the Mung Bean filling
7. Dip the stuffed Jalapenos in Gram flour batter and deep fry
8. Sprinkle  some chat masala powder and serve

Canola oil is also great for baking because it substitutes very well for butter, making baked dishes lighter, with less total and saturated fat.

The baking substitution chart shows how to use canola oil in cakes, muffins, brownies, pie crusts and other baking recipes

The good chefs at Marriott prepared many interesting dishes all cooked in Canola oil to show its versatility in the kitchen.

Chicken Malai kabab...

Phool Broccoli - Broccoli in white sauce was delicious...

I learned a lot from the event. Canola oil is priced in India at INR200 to 250 per litre which makes it much cheaper than Olive oil. I recommend everyone to switch to Canola oil if you haven't already done so.  

For more information on Canola Oil visit canolainfo.org