Degchi
Mustard oil
Also written: sarson ka tel, shorshe tel
- Urduسرسوں کا تیل
- Hindiसरसों का तेल
- Banglaসরিষার তেল
- Arabicزيت الخردل
Mustard oil is pressed from mustard seeds and it is sharp. Straight from the bottle it has a nose-tingling pungency, a bit like horseradish or wasabi, which surprises people who meet it for the first time.
It is the defining fat of Bengali cooking, and it appears in our library in dishes such as Shorshe Ilish, Aloo Posto and Aloo Bhorta, where raw oil is drizzled over mashed potato for the full punch. It also turns up in our Dhakaiya Beef Tehari. Fish curries cooked in mustard oil are a classic pairing, because the oil stands up to strong-tasting fish.
When it is used for frying or as the base of a curry, cooks usually heat it until it is just starting to smoke, then let it cool a moment before adding the rest. The idea is to take the raw edge off so the taste turns rounder and nuttier. Do it with ventilation on, and add your onions or spices only once the haze has settled. When it is used raw, as a drizzle, you simply keep the sharpness.
Buy small bottles and keep the cap tight. Labelling rules for mustard oil differ from country to country, so read the label where you buy it and follow it. If you cannot find it, a neutral oil will make the dish work, but it will lose the characteristic bite.
Recipes that use it
14 of our 247 recipes call for mustard oil or a closely related ingredient. Here are a few to start with.
- Shorshe Ilish (Hilsa in Mustard Sauce)
- Aloo Posto
- Aloo Bhorta (Mashed Potato)
- Dhakaiya Beef Tehari
- Begun Bhorta (Mashed Roasted Eggplant)
- Machher Jhol
Read next
Bangladeshi Home Cooking: 8 Everyday Dishes to Start With