Orggu
From Small Farmers
Pure cold pressed sesame oil (gingelly oil / nallennai) — single-pressed from black sesame seeds without heat or chemicals. Available in cold pressed & traditional bull driven marachekku variants.
Cold pressed sesame oil, known as gingelly oil (gingili) in English and nallennai (நல்லெண்ணெய்) in Tamil, is one of the oldest cooking oils in the world. It has been a staple in South Indian kitchens for over 5,000 years.
Cold pressing extracts oil from sesame seeds at temperatures below 45°C, preserving the oil's natural sesamol and sesamin — powerful antioxidants unique to sesame that protect against oxidative damage. Refined sesame oil loses most of these beneficial compounds during high-heat processing.
Orggu offers two variants: cold pressed sesame oil (machine pressed at low temperature) and bull driven sesame oil (traditional marachekku extraction). The bull driven variant has a more intense flavour and aroma as the wooden press extracts more of the seed's natural compounds.
Cold pressed sesame oil is extracted below 45°C and retains all natural antioxidants (sesamol, sesamin), vitamins, and flavour. Refined sesame oil is processed at high heat with chemicals, stripping away most nutrients and the characteristic nutty aroma.
Gingelly oil is the English name for sesame oil, derived from the Tamil word "ellu ennai." It is the same as cold pressed sesame oil or nallennai. It has been used in South Indian cooking, temples, and Ayurvedic medicine for thousands of years.
Yes, sesame oil has a high smoke point (210°C for unrefined) making it excellent for Indian cooking including deep frying, tempering (tadka), and stir-frying. It is the traditional cooking oil of Tamil Nadu and parts of Karnataka.
Both are excellent. Bull driven (marachekku) sesame oil is extracted using a wooden press powered by a bull — it has a more intense aroma and slightly higher nutrient retention. Cold pressed uses a steel machine at low temperature. Both are far superior to refined sesame oil.
