Walk into any kirana store and you will find mustard oil on the shelf. Walk into any premium grocery store and you will find 'wood pressed' or 'kachi ghani' mustard oil at twice the price. Are they actually different? Yes — significantly.
How refined mustard oil is made
Most commercial mustard oil goes through solvent extraction — mustard seeds are mixed with a chemical solvent (typically hexane) which dissolves and extracts the oil. The solvent is then evaporated off, and the oil is bleached, deodorised, and refined to produce a pale, odourless oil with a long shelf life.
This process extracts more oil per kilogram of seeds, which is why it is cheaper. But it also removes — or destroys — much of what made mustard oil valuable in the first place.
How wood pressed (kachi ghani) oil is made
Wood pressed oil uses a traditional wooden kolhu — a press driven by a wooden beam and a bullock (or motor). The seeds are slowly crushed at low pressure, and the oil flows out naturally. No heat beyond what is generated by the slow pressing itself. No chemicals. No refining.
The result is oil that retains its natural pungency (from allyl isothiocyanate), its deep colour, its omega-3 content, and its traditional character.
How to tell them apart
| Feature | Wood Pressed | Refined |
|---|---|---|
| Colour | Deep golden to amber | Pale yellow |
| Smell | Strong, pungent | Mild to odourless |
| Sediment | May have natural sediment | Clear |
| Extraction | Mechanical cold press | Chemical solvent |
| Processing | None | Bleached and deodorised |
Which is better for cooking?
For high-heat cooking and tempering (tadka), both work. But for dishes where mustard oil flavour is part of the recipe — Bengali fish curries, North Indian pickles (achaar), sarson da saag — wood pressed oil gives the authentic result. Refined oil simply cannot replicate the pungency that makes these dishes what they are.
What we make at Chahal Agri Farms
We press both yellow mustard (peeli sarson) and black mustard (kali sarson) in a traditional kolhu. No heat. No chemicals. The oil you get from us is the same oil that came out of the seeds — nothing added, nothing taken away.