Tempering is a cooking technique used in India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka in which whole spices (and sometimes also other ingredients such as dried chillies, minced ginger root or sugar) are cooked briefly in oil or ghee to liberate essential oils from cells and thus enhance their flavours, before being poured, together with the oil, into a dish. Tempering is also practiced by dry-roasting whole spices in a pan before grinding the spices. Tempering is typically done at the beginning of cooking, before adding the other ingredients for a curry or similar dish, or it may be added to a dish at the end of cooking, just before serving (as with a dal, sambar or stew).
Ingredients used
Ingredients typically used in tempering include cumin seeds, black mustard seeds, fennel seeds, kalonji, fresh green chilis, dried red chilis, fenugreek seeds, asafoetida, cassia, cloves, urad dal, curry leaves, chopped onion, garlic, or tejpat leaves. When using multiple ingredients in tempering, they are often added in succession, with those requiring longer cooking added earlier, and those requiring less cooking added later. In Oriya cuisine and Bengali cuisine, mixtures of whole spices called pancha phutaṇa or panch phoron, respectively, are used for this purpose.
Terminology
Some Indo-Aryan and Dravidian languages use a form inherited (through an early borrowing, in the case of Kannada) from the Sanskrit root vyághāra- "sprinkling over":
- vaghār (વઘાર) in Gujarati
- baghār (बघार) in Hindi
- baghāra (ବଘାର) in Odia
- bāgār (বাগার) in Bengali
- oggaraṇe (ಒಗ್ಗರಣೆ) in Kannada
Some Indo-Aryan languages use a form inherited from the Sanskrit root sphōṭana- "crackling, cracking":
- phoran (फोरन) in Bhojpuri
- phoṛon (ফোড়ন) in Bengali
- phoḍṇi (फोडणी) in Marathi
- phōṇṇa (फोण्ण) in Konkani
- phuryāunnu (फुर्याउनु) in Nepali
- phuṭaṇa (ଫୁଟଣ) in Odia
- padam (පදම්) in Sinhala
Some Indo-Aryan languages use a form inherited from the Sanskrit root traṭatkāra- "crackles, splits, fizzes":
- taṛkā (तड़का) in Hindi
- taṛkā (تڑکا) in Urdu
- tuṛkā (तुड़का) in Garhwali
- tuṛkā (ਤੁੜਕਾ) in Punjabi
- rāi (راءِ) in Sindhi
Another root beginning with an aspirated affricate is found in yet other Indo-Aryan languages:
- čhuṅka (ଛୁଙ୍କ) in Oriya
- čhaunk (छौंक) in Hindi
- chunkay or chaunkay in Caribbean Hindustani
- čhaunk (چھونک) in Urdu
- čhonk (छोंक/ছোঙ্ক) in Maithili
Dravidian languages also have various other forms for the same usage:
- tāḷippu (தாளிப்பு) in Tamil
- tāḷimpu (తాళింపు) in Telugu
- pōpu (పోపు) in Telugu
- nesal (ನೆಸಲ್) in Tulu
- vazhattuka (വഴറ്റുക) in Malayalam
Sino-tibetan languages have many distinct terms, such as in:
- yeibā (ꯌꯦꯏꯕꯥ) in Meitei
And other languages use roots that developed from onomatopoeia:
- dzānnu (झान्नु) in Nepali
See also
References
- "The Crackling Spices Of Indian Tempering". NPR.org. Retrieved 2017-04-16.
- "How To Temper Spices | Rasam Indian Restaurant". www.rasam.ie. Retrieved 2017-04-16.
- Jaffrey, Madhur. Madhur Jaffrey's Ultimate Curry Bible. Ebury Press, 2003. ISBN 0-09-187415-7
- Kapoor, Badrinath (2006-09-01). Brihat Pramanik Hindi Kosh (in Hindi). Lokbharti Prakashan. ISBN 978-81-8031-057-7.
- Tiwari, Udai Narain (1954). Bhojapurī bhāshā aura sāhitya (in Hindi).
- Bahri; Hardev, Dr. Rajpal Pocket Hindi Shabdkosh (in Hindi). Rajpal & Sons. ISBN 978-81-7028-327-0.
- वर्मा, जयलाल (1992). गढ़वाल़ी-भाषा का शब्द-कोष (in Hindi). कंवरसिंह नेगी "कर्मठ".