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Is there an accessible, legal product in the USA that will impart the sinus-tingling sensation of mustard when preparing spice blends for Indian cooking?

No sooner did I discover the sinus-heating magic of cold-pressed mustard oil than I learned that it is illegal for consumption in the United States. (The matter is controversial, but banned is banned.)

There is one FDA-approved mustard oil, made from a specially bred varietal: Yandilla. The cost of such an oil would add up quite quickly, and it is often out of stock in most of the few places that carry it.

The FDA also acknowledges another mustard-extracted product: steam-extracted mustard essential oil, also known as volatile oil of mustard. Since I mostly just want a bit of mustard "oomph" for my tadkas, this seemed like the right thing.

It's not clear that this is a real, viable product, however. While there are a few ancient articles about it, every bottle of "mustard essential oil" that I can find for sale in the United States says that it's cold-pressed, meaning it's actually virgin oil. Even outside the US, mustard essential oil seems incredibly obscure. After a good amount of searching, I eventually found one vendor in India, and they still market it as intended for external use.

Prepared mustard is a totally different animal. Mustard powder tastes totally different from the oil, and can easily be turned bitter (and not spicy) during cooking. Which leaves me with the (expensive, low-inventory) Yandilla. Or does it? Is there another way to obtain this flavor profile?

FuzzyChef
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David Bruce Borenstein
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    @rumtscho, this question was not a solicitation for medical advice, or opinions about what's safe. I was asking for known alternatives to an ingredient that has been banned by the FDA. I have revised the question to emphasize this, but it should not have been closed in the first place. – David Bruce Borenstein Feb 01 '23 at 15:33
  • Now I am confused. You say that the authority you use for defining what is acceptably safe and what isn't is the FDA. Per the question, you already checked what the FDA considers safe. How would you expect us to arrive at a different answer that fits the FDA criteria, if the FDA itself has already published what fits its criteria, and you know it? – rumtscho Feb 01 '23 at 15:37
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    I am not asking for more products in the banned category. I am not even asking about safety. I am asking for products that are not banned, and which have similar flavors to mustard oil. The cause for the ban is erucic acid, whereas the spice from mustard oil comes from a different compound. – David Bruce Borenstein Feb 01 '23 at 15:46
  • OK, I see it clearer now, I think we can reopen if we edit the question to be more specific. Are you looking for a) a mustard-derived product that the FDA has on some kind of "approval list", or b) a non-mustard product that is kinda similar (which would be a standard culinary substitution question)? Either formulation would eliminate the need for the answerer to define what is safe (which is the criterion for closing under the 'health' reason). The second is more likely to get answers, even though they wouldn't match the taste, the first would be nicer, but unclear if it exists. – rumtscho Feb 01 '23 at 16:09
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    I had already revised this question quite extensively. I just revised it to completely remove any and all mention of the word "safety." I continue to maintain that the original closure was unjust. – David Bruce Borenstein Feb 01 '23 at 16:23
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    Mustard oil is also 'illegal' in the UK, though that doesn't actually stop anybody using it, as you can buy it quite readily "for external use". KTC [a UK/Indian company] one of the country's larget edible oil suppliers, makes a 'legal' edible mustard oil. I've never tried it, but maybe you could get it on import? – Tetsujin Feb 01 '23 at 16:27
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    I have found a good quality cold pressed rapeseed oil (aka canola oil) is somewhat similar in flavour - slightly nutty and mustard-like. I often use it when cooking curries. Rapeseed/canola is basically a variety of brassica, from the same family as mustard. Highly refined rapeseed oils typically used for deep fat frying are more or less flavourless by comparison. – Billy Kerr Feb 01 '23 at 16:30
  • Hmm.. KTC's edible is actually 50/50 mustard & rapeseed. You can buy their 100% in any supermarket in the UK, you just have to go look for it in the hair product aisle;) – Tetsujin Feb 01 '23 at 16:32
  • @DavidBruceBorenstein thank you for the editing, it is indeed much clearer now. Most importantly, now your questions defines the exact criteria for judging which products would be acceptable for your purposes. – rumtscho Feb 01 '23 at 16:50
  • @BillyKerr that sounds like an answer, why don't you post it? – FuzzyChef Feb 02 '23 at 06:25
  • Personally, I am a US resident, and have found that while mustard oil is technically banned, it's actually readily obtainable in many places. – FuzzyChef Feb 02 '23 at 06:25
  • @FuzzyChef - OK, added an answer now. Yeah, it's also technically banned for food use here in the UK, but the oil itself is not banned and is readily available in Asian stores, even some supermarkets, but it has to be labelled "for external use only". I highly doubt if that has ever stopped any Indians living here from using it. – Billy Kerr Feb 02 '23 at 10:12
  • @Tetsujin 'you can buy their 100% in any supermarket in the UK' stock is tailored to demand, which can be a product of local demographics, not at lot of KTC oil products available in standard supermarkets in the Highlands, though I saw them regularly when I lived in Smethwick. – Spagirl Feb 02 '23 at 10:51
  • @Spagirl - sure, I'm generalising. Same as saying you can get fresh pasta, or frozen garlic, or Polish bread… if you're out in the sticks you're going to already know your choices are limited. – Tetsujin Feb 02 '23 at 11:13

3 Answers3

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I haven't tried it, but you can make your own (See https://www.instructables.com/Homemade-Mustard-Oil). Personally, I would stick with yellow mustard seeds, anything else would probably be very harsh.

Greybeard
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I would start by first identifying what exact flavor of the mustard oil I am trying to reproduce. It can broadly be divided in two:

  1. the sharp bite of the mustard oil that is raw or just warmed up (for example, in Bengali smashed veggies called "Vorta")
  2. The warm and slightly bitter background notes of a curry that started on Mustard oil, and cooked for a long time.

If you are after the first, may I suggest a good quality Wasabi oil? (basically refined oil plus horseradish) you should get a similar, but not exactly same, punch and sinus clearing. (horseradish is used in many Bengali packaged foods that want to mimic the mustard punch)

If you are after the second, I usually use a heavily fruity/bitter extra virgin olive oil. Gives a similar effect.

Ron
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  • GREAT answer! Can you suggest a good wasabi oil? – David Bruce Borenstein Feb 02 '23 at 17:56
  • @DavidBruceBorenstein I don't have any brand suggestion, and different brands may have different pungency. this looks like a good candidate "Shirakiku wasabi oil", I would do some trial runs to compare the pungency, and if needed dilute it with canola oil. – Ron Feb 02 '23 at 18:10
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I have found a good quality cold pressed rapeseed oil (aka canola oil) is somewhat similar in flavour - slightly nutty and mustard-like. I often use it when cooking curries.

When frying your spices you could also add some black mustard seed to help ramp up the flavour. These are often used in Indian cuisine. You don't need a lot, perhaps half a teaspoon. Also note that unlike mustard oil, cold pressed rapeseed/canola oil doesn't need to be heated up to its smoking point before use. In any case you probably want to avoid the risk of burning it anyway. You can even use it raw in salad dressings.

Rapeseed/canola is basically a variety of brassica, from the same family as mustard. Note that the highly refined rapeseed oils you can find in supermarkets which are typically used for deep fat frying are more or less flavourless in comparison to a cold pressed oil.

Billy Kerr
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