A Note on Tempering

A Note on Tempering

Why do many Indian recipes call for tempering? What does it mean? Why why why? I will agree that tempering is not fun. The seeds pop, spray oil everywhere, and hot scalding bits of water spray all over as the first vegetables get thrown in.  

As you may know, many well known Indian spice mixes, such as garam masala or sambar masala are traditionally made by first roasting the raw spices together and then grinding them in a mortar and pestle before using in a curry or dal.  The roasting releases the spices’ deep flavors, which it can then impart on the vegetables or lentil dish. The same goes for the cumin and mustard seeds.  As the seeds begin to pop in the hot oil, this is a sign that the seeds are ‘cooked’ and are at their peak of flavor.  Consider this taste experiment.  Temper a few mustard and cumin seeds, until they violently pop. Try these seeds, versus raw cumin and mustard seeds, and you will see exactly what I mean.  As scary and sometimes painful as it is, tempering makes a huge difference in taste of the dish.  Here is what I do in order to minimize hot oil and water splatter:

As the oil is heating and the seeds begin to splatter, make sure your first set of vegetables are chopped and ready to go.  Keep them chopped up on your cutting board, and use the cutting board as a cover for your pot as the seeds begin to splatter.  When you are ready to throw the vegetables in, slide the cutting board over so that just a crack of the pot is open, large enough to let you slide the vegetables into the pot.  When you have them all in, keeping the pot covered with the cutting board, give the pot a shake so that the vegetables can cover the whole bottom of the pot and cool down the oil.  Now you can reduce your heat, uncover the pot, and continue cooking pain and splatter free!