Do you believe shallow frying is better than deep frying? Yes? Then let us first understand the difference between the two.
In shallow frying the food is only partly submerged in oil allowing one side to be cooked
and it is flipped in between to cook the other side.
Whereas, in deep frying the food is completely submerged in hot oil. Food is cooked evenly, since it is completely submerged in oil. And because of the high temperature of the pre-heated oil, food gets cooked quickly.
Experiments have shown that absorption of oil is lesser in deep frying than shallow frying.
Let’s find out how?
Since shallow frying takes more time to cook, the food remains in oil for a longer time. And hence, the absorption of oil is more. You will notice the food to be greasy.
On the other hand, deep fried items will have very little oil on them, if proper technique is used. If the temperature of the oil is correct, and maintained throughout the frying process, the food gets cooked evenly. And here, only the surface of the food meets the oil.
Try it out yourself!
Take food item which you can shallow fry as well as deep fry, for example cutlets. Measure the oil before you use to shallow fry the cutlets. Once done, measure the amount of oil used. The same way, measure the oil you take to deep fry that food item (keep the number of items constant to get accurate reading). After you finish frying let the oil cool down and measure the oil again. By this exercise, you will get to know the amount of oil absorbed while shallow frying is much more than in deep frying.
This is because when proper deep frying technique is used the interior portion of the food gets cooked in steam generated by the heat of the oil.
What is steam? All foods contain water in varying amounts. Expose water to heat and it turns into steam. When food is fried in oil that isn’t hot enough, that water leaks into the oil. This makes fried food soggy and greasy. Also, the food takes longer to cook and it absorbs oil that it normally wouldn’t.
Since deep frying requires pre-heating the oil at high temperature, only the oils with high smoke point can be used.
Coconut oil is the best for deep frying since it has a very high smoking point. Other oils preferred for deep frying are canola oil, sesame oil, peanut oil and ghee.
Although deep frying is better, it is not recommended on regular basis even for healthy individuals. Since, the budget for oil is half a liter per person per month.
But we all love deep fried foods. So let’s look at the alternates that absorb less oil:
- Air fryers (cooks food without oil or by brushing minimal oil on the food),
- Non-stick pan (brushing minimal oil on food and let it cook on both the sides)
- Non-stick appam makers for vadas. (requires just a drop of oil per vada, which is way lesser absorption than even deep frying).
So enjoy your favorite foods with a little healthy twist to stay fit.
Share this article with your friends and family to let them know the healthy fact.
