The bottle says groundnut oil. What is inside has been bleached, chemically treated, and stripped of almost everything that made the groundnut valuable in the first place.
What is cold pressed groundnut oil?
Cold pressed groundnut oil — also called Kachi Ghani oil — is extracted by mechanically pressing raw groundnuts at low speed and low temperature. No heat is applied to the seeds before pressing. No chemical solvents are used during extraction. The oil that comes out is filtered minimally and bottled as-is.
The result is an oil with a natural golden colour, a rich nutty aroma that fills the kitchen when you heat it, and the full nutritional profile of the groundnut — Vitamin E, monounsaturated fats, natural antioxidants — all intact.
This is how groundnut oil was made in every Indian home for centuries. The village ghani. The wooden press. Slow, low-temperature extraction that preserved everything the groundnut had to offer.
What makes a great cold pressed groundnut oil?
- Natural golden colour — Not pale, not crystal clear. A warm amber-golden tone that comes from the groundnut's natural pigments. Crystal clear oil has been bleached.
- Strong nutty aroma — Heat a spoonful of real Kachi Ghani oil and the entire kitchen smells like roasted groundnuts. Refined oil has no aroma because the aromatic compounds have been removed.
- Natural sediment — Real cold pressed oil has fine natural particles that settle at the bottom. This is normal. Shake before use. Sediment-free oil has been over-filtered or chemically treated.
- High smoke point — Despite being unrefined, groundnut oil has a naturally high smoke point — suitable for Indian tadka, deep frying, and sautéing.
- A1 grade groundnuts — The quality of the oil is directly determined by the quality of the groundnut. A1 grade means larger, cleaner, higher oil-content nuts. Lower grades produce inferior oil.
What the refined oil industry does not want you to know.
Walk into any supermarket and pick up a bottle of refined groundnut oil. Flip it over. Read the label. It will say "refined groundnut oil." What it will not say is what "refining" actually involves.
Step 1 — Solvent extraction
Most large-scale oil producers do not press their oil at all. They use hexane — a petroleum-derived chemical solvent — to wash the oil out of the groundnut. Hexane dissolves oil far more efficiently than mechanical pressing, leaving almost nothing behind in the seed. The mixture of hexane and crude oil is then heated to evaporate the hexane. Most of it evaporates. Most — not all. Trace amounts of hexane remain in the final oil. This is the oil you are buying.
Step 2 — Degumming
The crude extracted oil contains phospholipids, waxes, and other compounds that cause it to go cloudy or form deposits. These are removed through a process called degumming using water or phosphoric acid treatment. Many of these removed compounds — phospholipids in particular — have nutritional value. They are stripped out because they affect shelf appearance, not because they are harmful.
Step 3 — Neutralisation
Crude oil contains free fatty acids that affect flavour and shelf life. These are neutralised using sodium hydroxide — caustic soda — in a process called alkali refining. The fatty acid soaps formed are then separated and discarded. More of the oil's natural character is lost at this stage.
Step 4 — Bleaching
The oil is then treated with bleaching earth or activated clay to remove colour pigments — the natural carotenoids and chlorophylls that give unrefined oil its colour. These pigments are not harmful. They are removed purely for cosmetic reasons — because consumers have been conditioned to expect pale, clear oil. The natural antioxidants in the oil are significantly reduced at this stage.
Step 5 — Deodorisation
Finally, the oil is steam-heated at extremely high temperatures — between 200 and 270 degrees Celsius — to strip out volatile aromatic compounds. This is why refined oil has no smell. The aroma has been physically removed. Unfortunately, at these temperatures, some healthy unsaturated fats are also converted into trans fats. The same trans fats that are globally recognised as contributors to heart disease.
What you end up with after all five steps is a colourless, odourless, flavourless oil with most of its natural nutrition removed — produced using petroleum solvents and industrial chemicals — sitting in a transparent plastic bottle on your kitchen shelf.
The re-labelling game
Several brands sell solvent-extracted refined oil but label it "cold pressed" or "Kachi Ghani" style packaging. The label shows a village woman at a wooden press. The oil inside was made in an industrial plant using hexane. There is no mandatory certification for the Kachi Ghani process in India. Any brand can print it on a bottle.
Why Spicewale Cold Pressed Groundnut Oil is different.
A1 grade groundnuts sourced from primary markets. We buy at the mandi level in Jodhpur — one of India's major agricultural trading centres. We examine the groundnut before buying. A1 grade means larger nuts, higher oil content, and a cleaner press.
Cold pressed at low temperature. No hexane. No solvent. Mechanical pressing only, at low speed to keep heat generation minimal. The oil that comes out retains its natural golden colour, its nutty aroma, and its Vitamin E content.
Single filtered. We filter once — to remove large particles. We do not bleach, deodorise, or chemically treat. The oil smells like groundnuts because it is groundnuts.
Natural sediment is present. If you see a slight settling at the bottom of our bottle, that is normal and expected. Shake before use. It is a sign the oil has not been over-processed.
No additives, no preservatives. The ingredient list has one item: cold pressed groundnut oil. That is all.
At ₹310 per litre, Spicewale Cold Pressed Groundnut Oil is the most affordable genuine Kachi Ghani option in its class. The brands charging ₹450 and above are charging for their marketing. The oil process is the same.
Your kitchen deserves oil that smells like food.
Andar se saaf. From the groundnut to your pan — nothing added, nothing hidden.
0 comments