Let's Cook Together Let's Cook Together

Popu (tempering)

te: పోపు · te: తాలింపు · hi: तड़का · en: tempering

Why it matters

Popu is the last thing that happens to a dal, a pachadi or a curry, and the first thing you smell. Whole spices are dropped into hot oil for a few seconds; the heat pulls out their aromatic oils, which dissolve into the cooking fat and carry the flavour through the whole dish. Mustard seed pops and turns nutty, cumin toasts, dried chilli smokes, curry leaf crisps, garlic sweetens. Done in the wrong order, or in oil that is not hot enough, the spices stew instead of blooming and the dish tastes flat.

Our grandmothers did popu in a small iron ladle held over the fire, then poured it, still sputtering, over the pot and clapped the lid on to trap the aroma. That is the sound of a Telugu kitchen at lunchtime.

Steps

  1. 1

    Measure every spice into a small plate before you light the stove — popu takes thirty seconds and there is no time to open jars.

  2. 2

    Heat the oil in a small pan on medium-high until it shimmers and a single mustard seed dropped in pops at once.

  3. 3

    Add the mustard seeds and wait until most of them have popped.

  4. 4

    Add the cumin and any dals (urad, chana) and stir until the dal turns pale gold.

  5. 5

    Add the dried red chilli, torn in two, and the garlic or asafoetida; stir for a few seconds until the chilli darkens.

  6. 6

    Drop in the curry leaves — stand back, they spit — and take the pan off the heat at once.

  7. 7

    Pour the whole popu, oil and all, over the dish and cover it for a minute so the aroma goes into the food, not the room.

Tools

  • Small iron or steel tempering pan (popu ginne)
  • A small plate with the spices measured out
  • A lid that fits the pot you are pouring into

Recipes that use this technique