In the recent past many people known to me have asked me to write about the cooking oil scene in India. One of those is my aunt Poornima who is very particular about her health and has always wondered about the merits and demerits of Olive Oil.

My aunt is right. Last year India consumed 17 million tonnes of cooking oil. Oil has always been the mainstay of Indian cooking considering that the cooking method always employs frying and in some cases deep frying. And this has been repeatedly pointed out as one of the main reasons why almost a third of Indians are over weight.

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