Tempering

The practice of adding a flavoring of spices and aromatics (such as onion) that have been separately cooked in oil to a cooked dish in order to heighten or round out flavors. The flavoring is known in Kerala as kar’digarh, meaning “mustard,” because it usually contains whole or ground mustard seed; in the north, it’s called a tadka. Many of the recipes in the dals chapter call for tempering.