Cold Pressed Coconut Oil (Khobrel Tel) - Wood Ghani

Coconut oil pressed in a wooden ghani, sold the way khobrel tel used to be sold before refining took over the shelf. Sun dried copra goes into a slow turning pestle, the paste never gets hot, and the oil is filtered through cloth and nothing else.

What a slow press changes

Speed is what kills aroma. Our ghani turns slowly enough that the copra stays cool, so the oil is not bleached, not deodorised and not stripped of the fine sediment that carries flavour. Below roughly 24 degrees it sets solid and white. A refined bottle beside it will stay liquid right through a Pune winter.

How Konkan kitchens use it

This oil belongs in solkadhi, in a fish curry finished off the flame, in ukadiche modak, and in a plain fodni of mustard seed and curry leaves for a Malvani style vegetable. Kerala thoran tastes closer to the original with it.

Pack sizes and storage

Filled in 1 litre, 2 litre and 3 litre. Keep the bottle capped, away from the burner, and use a dry spoon every time. Oil that has set has not spoiled.

The rest of what we press sits in wood pressed oils. Cooks who want one oil for daily fodni usually keep groundnut oil next to it, with a spoon of A2 desi ghee for varan bhaat.

Frequently asked questions

Why has my coconut oil gone solid and white

It sets below about 24 degrees. That is normal behaviour for this oil, not spoilage. Sit the bottle in a bowl of hot water and it turns clear again in minutes.

What is the difference between cold pressed and refined coconut oil

Refined coconut oil is heated, bleached and deodorised until it is neutral and colourless. This one keeps the smell and taste of the copra. The refined kind takes higher heat, so the two suit different jobs.

Can I use this oil for hair as well as cooking

Yes. It is a single ingredient oil either way, with no perfume and no additive in it.