What refining takes out of groundnut oil
The groundnut oil on most shelves has been solvent-extracted, bleached and deodorised. That process is efficient — it squeezes more oil out of the same nut and gives it a long shelf life — but it leaves you with something neutral. Pour it in a pan and it contributes nothing but heat.
Wood pressing is slower and yields less. Cleaned groundnuts go into a wooden marachekku that turns at low speed, so the temperature stays down and the oil is pressed out rather than cooked out. It comes out golden rather than water-clear, and it smells faintly of groundnut. That's what unrefined looks like.
Why customers choose ALAI
- We press it ourselves. Our own chekku unit in Tamil Nadu, our own quality checks. No third-party bottling, no blending with refined oil to hit a lower price.
- Unrefined and filter-settled. No bleaching agents, no deodorisers, no hexane, no added preservatives.
- Sorted groundnuts. Cleaned and checked before pressing. Poor nuts make poor oil, and there's no fixing it afterwards.
- Small batches, pressed to order. Fresh oil, not warehouse stock.
- Smell it yourself. A faint groundnut aroma is the simplest proof you're holding the unrefined thing.
How to use it
Everyday cooking — the workhorse. Groundnut oil has a higher smoke point than most unrefined oils, which makes it the practical choice when you need one oil to do everything.
Deep frying — this is where it earns its place. Bajji, bonda, murukku, vada, chips. It holds temperature well and doesn't turn the kitchen acrid.
Snacks and savouries — the traditional frying oil for Diwali and festival cooking, when you're making in quantity and the oil's stability actually matters.
Sweets — mysore pak, halwa and anything where a clean nutty background note belongs.
Dosai and roti — a light brush on the tawa. Crisper edges than ghee alone, and it doesn't burn.
If you're currently buying refined oil for frying, this is the one to switch first. It's the swap where you notice the difference most and give up the least.
Product details
| Brand | ALAI |
| Extraction | Wood pressed (marachekku), low temperature |
| Type | Unrefined, unbleached, undeodorised |
| Ingredients | 100% groundnut. Nothing else. |
| Also known as | Peanut oil, kadalai ennai, verkadalai ennai, mungfali oil |
| Available in | 250 ml / 500 ml / 1 L / 2 L / 3 L / 5 L |
| Packaging | Food-grade PET bottle, tamper-proof seal |
| Shelf life | 12 months from packing |
| Storage | Cool, dry place away from direct sunlight |
| Allergen note | Contains groundnut |
| FSSAI Lic. No. | 22426306000092 |
A note on colour and sediment
Ours is golden, not colourless — refining is what makes oil clear, and we skip it. A little settling at the bottom is normal in unrefined oil. Colour also shifts slightly batch to batch depending on the crop. Uniformity is a sign of processing, not of quality.
