Tempering: The Secret to Indian Cooking

Indian cuisine is one of the most appreciated in the world. But trying to make a restaurant-quality dish at home often feels impossible. At least, that’s what I thought until I learned more about their cuisine and discovered what I was missing: tempering.

Tempering is the technique to extract flavors from spices and seeds. No wonder it's so important in Indian cuisine, which relies so heavily on spices!

How to Temper Spices?

In The Science of Spices, Dr. Stuart Farrimond explains that spices store flavors for various reasons, such as defense, health protection, or even attracting pollinators. In cooking, hot oil releases the essential oils of spices, which pleases our taste buds.

Tempering spices is a simple two-step process:

1. Heat oil in a pan. Once it's hot, reduce the heat to medium.
2. Add the spices, seeds, and condiments, and cook them.

Tempered spices can be used at the start or end of a dish, or both. You can add rice to your tempered spices and cook everything together, or pour them into a finished dal for a burst of flavor!

3 Tips for a Successful Tempering

Choosing the right oil

Every oil has a smoke point, which is the temperature where the oil starts smoking and can turn food bitter and unsafe. For tempering, you need to use a high-smoke-point oil. Indians often use ghee (clarified butter) for this purpose.

To make it plant-based, simply use oil.

I recommend you to use these oils:

• Sunflower or canola oil: Their neutral flavor allows your spices to shine.
• Avocado oil: It blends with the spices to create an interesting mix.
• Coconut oil: My go-to oil. Its smoke point is lower, so be careful not to overheat.

The first time I tried tempering, I used sesame oil and heated it for too long before adding it to my dal. I burned everything. Don’t be like me. Choose the right oil. 👍

Choosing the right spices.

I recommend you to find inspiration in Indian, Nepalese, or Bangladesh cuisines. Here are some common seeds and spices for tempering:

• Mustard, fenugreek, cumin, or coriander seeds are frequently used.
• The holy trinity: garlic, ginger, and onions. You’ll find them in almost every Indian dish.
• Black and green cardamom.
• Red and green chilies: Is it even Indian if it doesn’t burn your mouth?
• Cloves and bay leaf.
• Cinnamon sticks.

You can find these spices in specialized Asian or Indian grocery stores.

Adding spices in the right order

Since tempering uses hot oil, the spices cook fast, so it’s crucial to add them in the right order to avoid burning! Typically, you’ll start with onions and seeds, then add ginger, garlic, and chilies. Finally, end with adding powdered spices like turmeric, chili, or curry powder.

When to temper—at the start or the end?

You can temper spices at the beginning or the end of a dish, or even both. But when should you do it?

It depends on what you want to achieve.

In Salt, Fat, Acid, and Heat, Samin Nosrat explains that fat carries flavor throughout a dish and that adding different layers of fat creates complexity and depth.

That’s exactly what tempering does! Tempering at the start creates a base layer of flavor that blends into every bite. Adding tempered spices at the end brings a more pungent, distinct flavor.

Combining both layers creates delicious complexity. A chili tempered early will bring a background heat, while chili tempered at the end brings a fruitier, sharper taste.

My 2 favorite recipes using tempering

This might feel theoretical, so let’s get cooking! Here are two recipes to try at home:

Biryani Rice

Temper seeds and spices and add basmati rice to make this simple but super flavorful rice dish.

Marinate some veggies and add them to this recipe to make a vegetable Biryani rice.

Tofu Tikka Masala (Great variation of Paneer Tikka Massala!)

If you love Paneer Tikka Masala, try this plant-based version! I created this Tofu Tikka Masala recipe, inspired by a vegan Indian restaurant I like to go to. Tofu is an excellent substitute for paneer!

If tofu feels intimidating or bland to you, I’ve got a mini-course to help you turn it into your favorite ingredient. Check it out here!

The only disadvantage of tempering

Tempering brings out tons of flavors in dishes rich in spices. However, it has one drawback: the amount of (saturated) oil used, which can make the dish high in calories.

In other words, it's not the healthiest option.

Other cuisines, like the Mediterranean who relies more on fresh ingredients and herbs, and use mostly olive oil is a healthier option.

Remember, it's all about balance, a comforting Indian dish can be healing for the soul now and then 😉