Tadak! Tadak!! Tadka!!!

If I can call a dish a beautiful girl, what can I call the tadka? Her cutest smile ever !!!

To me, tadka or seasoning (or thalippu in Tamil)  is the most important step in the whole cooking process.  I have heard many times people say “Dish is ready; I just need to do the tadka!!!”.  NO, it is not just the tadka, you are just about to infuse “life” into your dish, OR, if you mess up the tadka (say you burnt it), you might actually be issuing a death warrant to your dish!!!

Personally, I love to throw in more items (and more quantity of each items than normal) into the pan during tadka process.  Our Indian spices are very herbal in nature, so I would like to have more of them in any way possible.  My typical Sambar tempering goes like this – heat oil, throw in generous quantities of mustard, when they crackle, fenugreek seeds, urad dal, jeera, whole pepper corns (only sometimes when I make radish sambar), red chilies, curry leaves and hing.  Typically, I do my Sambar tadka in the beginning rather than at the end so that the flavors get infused into the dish during cooking process. OK, how many of these items do you use in your Sambar tadka?

When it comes to whole garam masala tadka, I temper with cloves, cinnamon, cardamom (black and green), dagad phool, Marathi moggu (Kapok buds), bay leaves, mace (Jathipathri), shahi jeera (sometimes), curry leaves (if required for the dish), and finish it off with black pepper, cumin, fennel seeds (whole or powdered, depending on the dish).

Good tadka can really make even simple dishes like Kichdi or Lemon rice shine!!!

Important tips during tadka process:

1. Get all your items ready before you start tadka process. Remember you are going to do the most important step in the cooking process. Concentrate.
2. Try increasing the quantity of each tadka item and see how you (and family) like it. Don’t overpower it though!!!
3. Experiment with adding new tadka items to your dish that you normally don’t use… Don’t stick with the same tadka options each time, have variations sometimes so you have variety…
4. Sequencing is important; generally mustard goes first… and the items that quickly gets burnt (like whole jeera or any spice powders) go at the end.
5. If your tadka gets burnt, it is better to throw it away and start off fresh.
6. Decide when to do the tadka (for some dishes, it is at the beginning, for some, it is at the end).
7. For chutneys, let the tadka remain on top until served to keep the tadka ingredients crispy.