INFUSED OILS: A BLAST OF FRESH FLAVOURS
These oils can give With multiple benefits and versatility, a new lease of life to your culinary experiments
It is a wonderful way to get the amazing medicinal benefits of your herbs in recipes along a great with flavour boost. PAWAN BISHT,
Chef
Everyone loves a flavoursome meal that’s cooked to perfection. And one of the best ways to add more flavours to your preparation is by using infused oils. It involves infusing the qualities and taste of herbs, spices and other ingredients in your preferred cooking oil, by using different methods. Apart from adding to the taste, they may offer a plethora of health benefits too.
“It’s a wonderful way to get the amazing medicinal benefits of herbs in your recipes along with a great flavour boost. It adds a punch of flavour to any basic dish such as pasta, pizza or salad. It also prevents wastage of extra herbs or spices that you have lying in your kitchen, as you can infuse them into oils,” shares chef Pawan Bisht.
There is a method of preparing the right infusion and one can even infuse multiple flavours into an oil. Revealing his favourites, chef Anurudh Khanna says, “I’m very fond of making various oils from herbs such as rosemary, thyme, basil, among others. We can also add more than one flavour to the oil, for example rosemary and garlic go really well with red meat and chicken, thyme and oregano oil can be drizzled on the prepared grilled fish to enhance aroma whereas basil and lemon grass oils can be used to give fragrance to the assembled salads, among others. Also it is fun to work with chilli paprika oils and star anise or cardamom oil.”
Sharing the process of making delicately flavoured infused oil with various herbs and spices, Bisht says, “If one is using fresh ingredients, they should be washed well to make sure they’re as dry as possible. Place the flavouring and 500ml of olive oil in a saucepan and gently warm over medium heat. Don’t let it become so hot that bubbles start to appear on the surface. The idea is to heat the oil just enough to encourage the flavouring to release its natural oils into the liquid. Set the pan aside and leave it to cool to room temperature. Use a muslin cloth to strain the oil into a clean, sterilised bottle.”
Nutritionist Hasti Singh admits that infused oils are a great way to capture the benefits of herbs, but he recommends consulting experts for their usage. “Earlier, infused oils were used only for taste buds but now it has widely gained popularity on the nutritional front. Though infused oil comes with its taste and scents, these can sometimes be harmful if not used as per the expert’s advice. Not all infused oils suit everyone,” he shares.