What are cold pressed oils?

The oils that you use for cooking everything are extracted from seeds, fruits or vegetables and even nuts. Cold pressing is the method of oil extraction from oilseeds which may include sesame seed, sunflower seeds, canola, coconut or olive without really using heat to extract as that may degrade the oil's flavour and nutritional quality. Cold pressing method is the process involving crushing seeds or nuts and forcing out the oil through pressure. The oil extracted is denser and less absorbed which tends to make your cooked vegetables looks more refreshing than ever. Also It is consumed less as compared to refined oil.

In olden times, a long cylindrical contraption known as 'ghani' was used to extract oil from oilseeds. According to the book A Historical Dictionary of Indian Food by K.T. Achaya, ghani was a mortar and pestle device made of stone or wood that used a perambulating animal to extract oil under pressure from oil-bearing seeds. This was the simplest method for cold pressing oils out of a seed as it didn't involve the generation of too much heat. Nowadays, extraction machines have replaced ghanis that use excessive heat further generating high quantities of oil; however, the quality may suffer.

Wooden Cold pressed (Kacchi Ghani) machine