Thonmai
In an Arani kitchen at breakfast, you can hear the oil before you taste it. The sharp crackle of mustard seeds hitting hot oil, the softer sputter of urad dal turning gold, the low hiss as a dosa spreads across the tawa. Each of those sounds happens at a different temperature - and matching the right oil to the right heat is most of what separates a clean, well-cooked dish from a bitter, over-smoked one. Here is how our four wood-pressed oils behave across frying, tempering, and raw use.
What smoke point actually means
The smoke point is the temperature at which an oil starts to break down and release visible smoke, along with an acrid smell and a slightly burnt taste. Cook past it repeatedly and you lose flavour and some of the oil's natural goodness. Wood-pressed (marachekku) oils are unrefined, so they keep their aroma and micro-nutrients - but that also means their smoke points are generally a little lower than heavily refined oils. This isn't a flaw; it just tells you how to use each one well.
Groundnut oil - the everyday deep-fry oil
Wood-pressed groundnut (nilakadalai) oil has the highest heat tolerance of our four, with a smoke point commonly in the region of 200-220 degrees C for the unrefined grade. That makes it the natural choice for South Indian frying - bajji, bonda, murukku, vadai - where oil sits at a steady high heat for long stretches. Its flavour is mild and nutty, so it lets the food speak rather than the oil. If you keep one oil for a busy frying day, this is it.
Sesame oil - the all-rounder of the Tamil kitchen
Wood-pressed sesame (nallennai) oil, the golden gingelly kind rather than the dark toasted East-Asian variety, sits around 175-210 degrees C depending on the batch. That comfortably covers medium-heat cooking and shallow frying, and it is the traditional oil for tempering curry leaves and mustard, for pooling into hot idli, and for mixing into rice with milagai podi. It shines both hot and raw, which is why so many Tamil households keep it as their default.
Coconut oil - tempering, sauteing, and a Kerala-Kongu accent
Wood-pressed coconut (thengai) oil has a smoke point in the range of 175-200 degrees C for the virgin, unrefined type. Its distinct aroma makes it less of a neutral all-purpose fat and more of a flavour decision - beautiful in Kerala and Kongu-belt cooking, in thoran, aviyal, and short temperings. It handles sauteing and light frying well, though for long deep-frying sessions groundnut oil is the steadier partner.
Mustard oil - the raw and pickle specialist
Wood-pressed mustard (kadugu) oil is the most assertive of the group, with a pungent bite and a smoke point often around 250 degrees C, higher than the others. That heat tolerance makes it good for searing and North and East Indian frying, but its real signature is raw and pickling use, where its sharpness is the whole point. A note of caution: raw mustard oil carries a strong flavour that not everyone enjoys, and many cooks lightly heat it until it just smokes, then cool it, to mellow the bite before using it raw.
A quick match-up for your stovetop
Deep frying - groundnut first, mustard as a strong-flavoured alternative.
Tempering (tadka) - sesame or coconut, depending on the dish's home region.
Sauteing and shallow fry - any of the four; pick by flavour, not just heat.
Raw use, salads, pickles - sesame for a gentle finish, mustard for a sharp one.
You can compare grades, aromas, and uses across our range on the products page if you want to build a small shelf of two or three oils for different jobs.
One honest caveat on the numbers
Treat every smoke point above as a practical guide, not a fixed certificate. The exact figure shifts with the pressing, the freshness of the oil, how many times it has been reheated, and even the quality of the seed that season. Unrefined, wood-pressed oils vary a little from batch to batch - that variability is part of what makes them alive rather than standardised. The safest rule stays the same across all four: heat gently, watch for the first wisp of smoke, and never push a good oil past the point where it starts to complain.