I thought that Tempering was a late additive.

Yesterday did a Cauliflower Curry which required Tempering spices first - before adding Onions & main spices. Is there any purpose in this?

= Tim

I don't know but I've seen recipe's that call for it sooner and later...I think.

There's a Lamb Rogan Josh recipe on here that says to fry the asafoetida at the beginning, don't know if that's tempering really but here's the recipe...

http://www.mamtaskitchen.com/recipe_display.php?id=10471

Generally speaking, Dals, Kadhi, Saags etc have a 'tarka' at the end, like a garnish. It gives the dish an extra flavour/finish. You can put a tarka on top of meats too, but they generally have enough oil/fat/spices already, so don't need it, whereas most dals are boiled with only salt and turmeric, so need 'finishing'.

Curries (the dishes with a gravy/sauce) have tarka at the beginning as do vegetable bhajies (dishes without gravy). That is the way things are done traditionally.

Adding tarka spices in the beginning; cumin/mustard/fenugreek or other seeds, some whole spices and asafoetida etc. release their flavours into the hot oil and curries, vegetable and meat, are traditionally cooked with tarka at the beginning.

Thank you Mamta.

I can see the reasoning for adding a tarka - like Garam Masala? Why Garam? It's mildly fragrant!!

One wonders what would happen if you put ALL the spices in at the beginning??

= Tim

I think Garam masala is called 'garam, because of is 'hot' flavour, rather than chilli type of heat. It is a mix of quite strong spices, it does have some heat due to black peppers and cloves.

Aha!!

= Tim

My historical linguistics lecturer told me that it is historically related to the English word 'warm', because both Hindi and English are Indo-European languages. It's plausible.

Phil

garam means hot in the spiritual sense, rather than the corporal sense. It harks back to Ayurvedic medicine, and therefore should be looked at with caution.