Fat
Coconut oil
Also called virgin coconut oil
Fat pressed from coconut meat. Virgin oil smells of the nut and sets solid in a cool kitchen; refined oil is neutral and takes higher heat. Kerala fish curry and other coastal South Indian pots often start here. It is not coconut milk, and it is not palm oil.
Origin
Tropical copra-making wherever coconuts are coppiced — South Asia, the Pacific, the Caribbean. The jar in a health-food aisle is the same fat a Kerala kitchen may treat as ordinary, minus the marketing.
Flavour
Virgin: distinct coconut, sweet and floral. Refined: almost none. Rancid oil smells of crayons. It should not taste sour.
How it is made
Fresh meat (virgin) or dried copra (often refined) is pressed. Refining and deodorising strip aroma. Fractionated 'MCT' oils are a different, liquid product and a poor tadka fat.
How to use it
For a Kerala-style tadka, melt virgin coconut oil and pop mustard seeds in it so the curry tastes of the coast. It can fry at a moderate heat; virgin oil smokes earlier than refined. In baking it sets cakes firmer in a cold room — account for that. Do not expect it to impersonate butter's dairy note, or dendê's floral red-palm note. A tablespoon seasons; a cup of virgin oil in a chocolate cake will taste of sun cream if you overdo it.
Storage
Cupboard, lid tight. Solidification is normal below about 24°C. Water in the jar is what spoils it. Fridge is unnecessary and makes it brick-hard.
Recipes using it
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