How to deep fry foods at home without consuming much oil

Instead of deep frying, we can just do greasing with ghee on the iron pan/tawa and cook it from each side properly, said Prernna Kalra, a certified nutritionist

By: Lifestyle Desk

New Delhi | August 21, 2023 12:00 PM IST

3 min read

How do you deep fry? (Source: Getty Images/Thinkstock)

Food preparation basics can help you in the kitchen. In fact, they can save a lot of time and effort too. As such, when celebrity nutritionist Rujuta Diwekar shared a guide to deep frying as she was frying some sabudana vadas, we decided to deep dive and understand more.

According to Diwekar, one should heat oil in a frying pan over medium heat for deep frying. “When it is medium hot, slowly slide 3-4 patties in it. When the top surface turns light brown, flip them and deep fry until golden brown on both sides. Drain prepared sago vada and transfer them to a plate. Deep fry the remaining vadas,” said Diwekar.

As deep-frying tends to consume a lot of oil, it is important to stick to a few simple rules that can help avoid some common mistakes. Prernna Kalra, a certified nutritionist and said that besides being tasty, deep frying food makes it lose its water content and absorbs fat which contains lots of calories and trans fat. This fat builds up in our arteries and causes various cardiovascular diseases,” said Kalra.

*Use the smallest burner

*Your kadhai should be dry

*Pay attention and ensure that the oil is not fuming. It should be hot enough.

*Deep fry a little bit to check if the oil is ready.

*Don’t drop what you want to fry. Slide it from the sides.

*Wait for the bubbles to settle before you turn the vadas.

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Compared to deep-frying, air frying is generally considered to be a healthier cooking method (Source: Getty Images/Thinkstock)

*Always cook on low flame

One can also use ghee, suggested Kalra. “Ghee has a high heating point which means it does not lose its nutritional value so early. Also, we can use iron kadhai to make the food iron-rich,” said Kalra.

She also suggested that one should avoid deep frying eggs, chicken, paneer, and fish with salt. “It will destroy most of the good protein so avoid it while frying,” said Kalra.

Also Read | Experts on whether consuming ghee in the last months of pregnancy helps during vaginal delivery

Alternatively, according to Kalra, we can do two things:

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*Try to use an air fryer or microwave or OTG for minimal cooking and less oil usage (no wastage) and heart-friendly.
*Instead of deep frying, we can just do greasing with ghee on the iron pan/tawa and cook it from each side properly. This is also known as pan-frying.

However, Kalra pointed out that deep frying any food even on low flame will make it have high saturated fat. “If we are using oil that has a high heating point like mustard oil, rice bran oil, peanut oil, and ghee, it is alright to have one once in a while. However, the temperature should not increase 450°F,” said Kalra.

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