Cold Pressed Coconut Oil (Velichenna)

Cold pressed, bull driven, refined or virgin coconut oil?

"Virgin" is a separate category, normally made from fresh coconut rather than dried copra. Ours are sold as cold pressed and bull driven coconut oil; we will state what each is pressed from once it is confirmed.

How our coconut oil is made

For the bull driven oil, coconut is crushed in a marachekku: a wooden pestle in a wooden mortar, turned by bullocks walking round it. The oil is left to settle and filled without refining. The cold pressed oil is filled unrefined as well; its press will be described here when confirmed.

Why coconut oil turns solid

Pure coconut oil sets white and solid when the room is cooler than roughly the mid-20s °C and melts back to a clear liquid when it is warm. It happens to refined and unrefined oil alike and is a property of coconut fat, not a defect. In winter, stand the closed bottle or steel vessel in a bowl of warm water to melt what you need; avoid heating the container on the stove.

Coconut oil nutrition per 100 g

Source: USDA FoodData Central, “Oil, coconut” (FDC ID 171412), fdc.nal.usda.gov. These are reference values for the oil in general, not a lab test of our bottles; the fat make-up comes from the seed, so cold pressed and refined oil are close on these lines, while minor components such as vitamin E can differ. One tablespoon is roughly 13–14 g.

Coconut oil is mostly saturated fat — about 82 g in 100 g by the USDA figures — which is why it is solid at cool room temperature. Use it, like any fat, in moderation, and take medical advice on diet from your doctor; this is general information only.

Does coconut oil boil? Is it hot or cold?

Cooking oil does not really boil in a kitchen — long before any boiling point it starts to smoke, and smoke is the signal to turn the flame down. Smoke-point figures for coconut oil vary widely between sources and between refined and unrefined oil, so cook at a steady flame rather than chasing a number. As for “hot or cold”: many South Indian families think of coconut oil as cooling and use it more in summer. That is a traditional food belief, not a medical claim, and we pass it on only as such.

Cooking with coconut oil

• Kerala sadya dishes — avial, thoran, olan and erissery, often finished with raw coconut oil and curry leaves.
• Coastal curries — Malabar, Mangalorean and Konkan fish and prawn curries.
• Snacks and sweets — banana chips, unniyappam and achappam.
• Tempering — mustard, dry chilli and curry leaves for chutney and sambar, Kerala style.

Coconut oil for hair and skin

In many homes the same coconut oil goes on the hair before a wash or on dry skin. That is everyday use rather than treatment, and we make no claim beyond it. If one bottle serves both the kitchen and the bathroom, pour the hair oil into a separate small bottle so nothing goes back into the cooking oil. Hair oils with added herbs or perfume are a different product and are not for cooking.

Names in Indian languages

Checking coconut oil at home

Unrefined coconut oil smells of coconut. Because pure coconut oil sets solid in the cold, a bottle that stays fully liquid in a cool fridge for some time is worth questioning — but solidifying alone cannot prove purity, since other solid fats set too. Check for the FSSAI licence on the label (ours: 21224194003133), and ask us on WhatsApp for any report we hold.

Price per litre

The cold pressed oil is the lower-priced everyday choice. The bull driven oil costs more because the bullock press is slow and small; most of our regular bull driven coconut oil buyers choose the 1 litre steel vessel.

Delivery

We deliver across India. Free delivery in Bangalore · Ships across India in 2–10 business days (charges at checkout). Cash on delivery in Bangalore; prepaid elsewhere in India. New customers: ₹50 OFF on your first order of ₹289+.