Final Seasoning

Vaghar in Gujarati, tadka in Hindi: this is a technique often called tempering, in which a dish is seasoned at the last minute with spices or other aromatics sizzled briefly in hot oil or ghee in a very small pan. (Sometimes a savory dish will start with the sizzling of whole spices before the onions go into the pan.) I use our smallest cast-iron skillet or a small, battered aluminum frying pan bought at a garage sale in Madison, its handle repaired with a wooden spool.