Mustard seed is one of the most commonly used ingredients worldwide. It's known for its distinctive, robust, and nutty flavor, also widely used in Indian cooking.
In Indian cooking, this spice is used as a seasoning ingredient. Furthermore, nearly 99% of South Indian recipes have this spice as one of the critical components.
Most dishes start or end by tempering the mustard seeds. These seeds have also been used to preserve pickles for ages.
It looks small but is a spherical ball about 3mm in diameter. Although it may seem small, it is rich in flavor.
Mustard Seed is the primary ingredient I store in the best possible reaching space since I use this most adequately. My other essential elements after this are urad dal (white lentils) and cumin.
How to use mustard seed
- These constantly crackled in cooking oil before adding to the dish.
- Are you interested in the perfect way to season? Follow these steps. First, keep a pan on medium flame and add a teaspoon of cooking oil and half a teaspoon of this spice. Second, allow it to crackle. Finally, add it to the dish. The crackling emits a beautiful flavor that enhances the word.
- A quarter to half a teaspoon of mustard seed is good enough to make a side dish for a serving of four.
- And every family has its recipe for making any dish. In the same way, in our family, we season the words at the end of the cooking, like tempering the sambar and the side dishes at the end of the food.
- We describe the seasoning at the beginning of the cooking process to make the recipe easier to cook in one pan. So, if you have the time or intend to make authentic and traditional South Indian cuisine, I would advise you to add sizzling mustard seeds at the final cooking stage, like in this radish chutney recipe.
Ground mustard seeds increase the shelf life without destroying the originality of the other ingredients. Want to see the real Indian pickle of India? Look into the spicy lemon pickle.
The regional names for Mustard seeds
Across the world, it is called by different names. Kadugu is in Tamil, Avalu is in Telugu, and Rai is in Hindi.
The substitutions for black mustard seeds
Like any other Indian spice, mustard seeds have a unique taste and flavor and cannot be substituted with ingredients closely resembling them. However, without black mustard seeds, it can be swapped within its family, white mustard or Brown Mustard.
Recipes
Most Indian recipes' tempering is done with mustard seeds. Thus, we have listed some here.
Recipes with mustard seeds as tempering
- Coconut chutney, a simple side dish for Idli or dosa
- Radish Sambar, a lentil side dish for rice
- Dosakaya Pappu, a veggie lentil side dish for rice
- Tomato Thokku, a tangy side dish for Idli or dosa
- Cabbage poriyal, Indian cabbage stir fry
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