Quite a large number of curry recipes need you to fry some of the ingredients. Most curries have fried onions and/or spices and delicious prawn pakoras or beef koftas couldn’t exist without deep fat frying.
So how can you tell when the cooking oil is hot enough? You can’t just look at the oil and if the oil is smoking then it is too hot to use – you should never cook in smoking oil.
Quite a few recipes use phrases such as “heat the oil over a medium heat” or “heat the oil over a medium to high heat”. But not everyone’s stoves heat at the same speed and the thickness of your saucepans and frying pans, as well as the different amount of oil that you use, means that the oil heats at different rates for different people.
We’ve searched the internet in search of some tips for you.
The easiest way to test the oil temperature is to use a thermometer. You put the thermometer into the oil and keep checking until the temperature gets to the level that you want. You have to be careful not to let the thermometer touch the metal of the saucepan or frying pan because this affects the readings.
But using a thermometer isn’t always easy. First of all, most recipes don’t say to which temperature you should heat the oil. Next, a thermometer is best used when you are deep frying – it’s going to be difficult to measure the temperature of a couple of tablespoons of oil in a large frying pan and you’ll probably end up measuring the temperature of the metal of the frying pan, rather than the oil.
Here’s a tip. Most deep fat frying takes place when the oil temperature is in the area of 370F (188C). If you have got a thermometer to use then now know what temperature to aim for.
Of course, not everyone has a thermometer and some thermometers don’t even go up to 370F (188C).
One often-used method of testing the oil temperature is to check with the handle of a wooden spoon, or to use a wooden chopstick. If you dip the end of the handle into the oil, the oil is hot enough when bubbles of oil freely form around the handle. And this technique apparently works for testing the oil temperature in frying pans (or saucepans) as well as for oil being used for deep fat frying.
Another common test is to drop an unpopped popcorn kernel into the oil. The popcorn kernel will pop when the temperature gets between 350F (176C) and 365F (185C). And the postings that recommend this method assure people that the popping corn does not spray you with hot oil.
Another test for testing for the correct temperature for deep fat frying is to drop a small 1/4 inch cube of bread into the oil when you think that the oil is hot enough. If the bread comes back up to the surface crackling and frying then the oil is hot enough.
Another favorite testing method is to flick a drop of water into the oil. If the drop of water splutters as soon as it is flicked into the oil, then the oil is hot enough. You do need to be careful not to flick too much water into the oil – a single drop is enough and I’ve never had any problems using this method.
If you’re still not sure then you can always put in a small amount of the ingredient that you’re going to be frying and wait for it to start frying before you add the rest of the ingredient.
The common sense tips that people give out include “heat the pan before adding the oil – don’t heat the pan and oil from cold at the same time”, “don’t overheat the oil – smoking oil is bad, bad, bad”, “be very careful and treat hot oil with respect – being burnt with hot oil is painful and can give you horrific burns” and “never let a child cook using hot oil – ever”. You have to be sensible with cooking – a lot of accidents happen in the kitchen.
You can experiment to see which method is best for you.
Just be careful when cooking with oil and enjoy your freshly cooked puri or beef dopiaza.