The Right Cooking Oil for Each One
India doesn’t celebrate festivals with just sweets.
Every festival has its own recipes, passed down through generations.
Some are made only once a year.
Some belong to one region.
Some have almost disappeared from modern kitchens.
This festive season, why not bring a few of those traditions back?
And while the recipe matters, there’s one ingredient that quietly shapes the final taste – the cooking oil.
Here’s a journey through seven traditional festive dishes from across India, along with the oil that helps each one shine.
1. Bedmi Poori & Aloo Rasedar (Uttar Pradesh)
Festival: Raksha Bandhan, Janmashtami
Walk into any old home in Uttar Pradesh on Raksha Bandhan morning and you’ll probably smell Bedmi Pooris before you even reach the dining table.
Unlike regular pooris, Bedmi Pooris are made with spiced urad dal filling, giving them a richer flavour and crisp texture.
Best cooking oil
- Refined Sunflower Oil for frying the pooris. Its neutral taste lets the spices stand out while giving the pooris a beautiful golden colour.
- Cold-Pressed Mustard Oil for the aloo rasedar. That familiar mustard aroma is what gives the curry its authentic North Indian character.
2. Dal ki Fara (Eastern Uttar Pradesh)
Festival: Sawan & Teej
This steamed delicacy is one of North India’s hidden gems.
Rice flour dumplings stuffed with spiced lentils are lightly tempered before serving.
It isn’t deep-fried, yet the final tempering makes all the difference.
Best cooking oil
Cold-Pressed Mustard Oil.
A simple mustard oil tadka with cumin, green chillies and hing transforms this humble dish into something unforgettable.
3. Panchkuta Sabzi (Rajasthan)
Festival: Teej & Raksha Bandhan
Made using dried berries and desert beans like ker, sangri and kumat, Panchkuta is one of Rajasthan’s oldest festive dishes.
Its earthy flavours need an oil with personality.
Best cooking oil
Cold-Pressed Mustard Oil.
The bold flavour complements the spices instead of disappearing behind them.
4. Chhena Poda (Odisha)
Festival: Krishna Janmashtami
Often called India’s oldest baked cheesecake, Chhena Poda is caramelised on the outside and soft inside.
While traditionally made with ghee, many home bakers lightly grease their baking tins with a neutral cooking oil.
Best cooking oil
Refined Soybean Oil.
Its neutral flavour doesn’t interfere with the sweetness of the dessert.
5. Patrode (Himachal Pradesh & Uttarakhand)
Festival: Monsoon celebrations
Colocasia leaves are layered with spiced gram flour, rolled, steamed and lightly pan-fried.
It’s one of those recipes that rarely appears in restaurants but is still treasured in homes.
Best cooking oil
Cold-Pressed Mustard Oil.
The final pan-roasting develops a rich aroma that pairs beautifully with the earthy leaves.
6. Makhana Mewa Paag (Bihar)
Festival: Raksha Bandhan & Janmashtami
Fox nuts, nuts and jaggery come together in this festive sweet that has been part of Bihari celebrations for generations.
While the recipe traditionally uses ghee, many families lightly grease trays before setting the mixture.
Best cooking oil
Refined Soybean Oil.
A tiny amount is enough to grease the tray without changing the flavour of the sweet.
7. Chandrakala (Bihar & Eastern Uttar Pradesh)
Festival: Raksha Bandhan
Often described as the festive cousin of Gujiya, Chandrakala is stuffed with khoya and dry fruits before being deep fried and dipped in sugar syrup.
Making it well requires patient frying rather than high heat.
Best cooking oil
Refined Sunflower Oil.
Its clean flavour and stability at frying temperatures help achieve a crisp shell without overpowering the sweet filling.
One Festival. Many Traditions.
From Rajasthan’s Panchkuta to Bihar’s Chandrakala and Uttar Pradesh’s Bedmi Poori, every region celebrates differently.
Yet one thing remains common.
Every traditional recipe asks something different from the cooking oil.
Some dishes need an oil that quietly lets the ingredients speak.
Others need an oil that becomes part of the flavour itself.
Choosing the right oil isn’t about making festive cooking complicated.
It’s about respecting the recipe that generations before us perfected.
This festive season, try bringing one forgotten family recipe back to your table.
You might discover that the memories return just as quickly as the flavours.
At Ajanta, we make Cold-Pressed Mustard Oil, Refined Sunflower Oil and Refined Soybean Oil because Indian kitchens don’t cook just one kind of food. Every festival, every family and every recipe deserves the oil that’s best suited for it.
Here’s to celebrating India’s festivals – one traditional recipe at a time.