South Asian cooking with black mustard seeds

November 23, 2018 10:55 AM

For cooking black mustard seeds as part of a tadka, I've read wildly contradictory advice online. If you use this technique in your own cooking and are happy with the results, how do you recognize the moment when they've been cooked enough? Are there signs besides popping you use to check whether you've done it right (color, smell, taste)?

I know to cook on moderate heat until the seeds pop, and to add the next ingredient immediately. But some say "they're ready when the first seed pops" and some say "they're not ready until the last seed pops" — which can't both be right! And some say bitterness is a sign of undercooking, some say it's overcooking.

posted by nebulawindphone to Food & Drink (3 answers total)

Best answer: I go somewhere in the middle and wait until several seeds have popped. They will continue to cook when you add the next ingredients so it evens out.
posted by joan_holloway at 11:01 AM on November 23, 2018

Best answer: I find that bitterness happens when I've overheated the oil initially or when I overcook, so I usually wait until the seeds are kinda mid-pop before adding the next ingredient.
posted by halation at 11:15 AM on November 23, 2018

Best answer: Once they start popping I get my other tadka ingredients and chuck them in, generally there will be another thirty seconds or so for them, then it's done.
posted by smoke at 1:07 PM on November 23, 2018