Panch phoron ✦

Panch phoron

What it is

Five whole seeds in equal parts — fenugreek, nigella, cumin, black mustard, fennel — never a sixth and never ground. The name is the instruction: panch is five, phoron is the tempering, the half minute in hot oil that opens a Bengali dish before anything else enters the pan.

In the kitchen

Fenugreek is the seed that ruins it: it turns acrid seconds after the others, so drop the mix into oil at about 160 °C and pull the pan the moment the mustard pops. If any seed darkens past mid-brown, throw it out and start again.

Goes with

Mustard oil Potato Eggplant Cauliflower Pumpkin Lentils

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