Mustard seed

Gardener972

What's the difference between the light and dark mustard seed? Is there a difference in taste?

incitatus

Brown mustard is the product of he shrub Brassica juncea ,white mustard of Brassica hirta .
Both have yellow flowers.

The brown mustard seeds have a more pungent taste.

Amyth

In India I haven't seen the white mustard seeds, however there are two types available here: small brown seeds and the big black variety. The brown being more pungent goes into the pickles and the black is generally used for tempering, but there is no hard and fast rule! Once a mustard always a mustard!!

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tasuray

White mustard is easily available in India @Rs.55/=/kg and black mustard is Rs.35/-/kg. in Kolkata.In Bengali it is called 'sada sharshe'and 'kalo sharshe'respectively.Both of these are very commonly used.

machadinha

... That's good to know. And a kilo would last you, what, five years?

Cheap, though!

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Nick-H

Isn't a handful of mustard seeds the first thing that goes into the hot oil for just about any and every dish? Maybe a kilo wouldn't last so many years in an Indian family kitchen!

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shashank.aggarwal

read South Indian family Kitchen...they are not that much used in North..

I mean they are used but not that extensively as in South..

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jyotirmoy

In a Bengali home one Kg won't last too long

Nick-H

Actually, I guess my handful was an exaggeration: but it is a lot more than a spoonful.

I suspect that it may be more for the fun of watching them fizz and pop than for the flavour they impart!

shashank.aggarwal

they are used in my house generally when my mother makes something south Indian in nature...

Something like Sambhar OR Upma..its not used in many other things that we eat..like Dals, or other vegetables..

Nick-H

No mustard seeds in the dahl?

Amazing!







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Amyth

Yeah..and it's a joke in Hyderabad, Add some mustard seeds and curry leaves in 'Chole' (chickpeas) to make them authentic south Indian!! ;-)

shashank.aggarwal

yes thats a fact...

and unlike south here it is common to cook Arhar Dal (One used to make Sambhar) unlike sambhar...I mean its made pretty thick and without all the vegetables that go in sambhar...besides tomatoes, chilies, ginger etc...

John Rambow

On a semi-related topic, is the mustard powder used for Bengali-style fish curries just the ground-up seeds? When I made some I ended up using the "western" style powder (the bright yellow kind, with turmeric). It was very good, but it seems unlikely that the bright yellow stuff is authentic for this kind of dish. I've never seen the ground-up mustard seeds in stores, which seems odd.

BTW, I've started throwing some black mustard seeds when making tomato and cucumber salads. V. good.

incitatus

Not in this recipe- MUSTARD POTATOES

Heat oil , add spoonful of black mustard seed. Let them pop.

Add boiled potatoes cut into desired size and one or two sliced chillies.

Fry until potatoes browned.

Add turmeric and stir once or twice.Add salt and lemon juice to taste.

Delicious -and so simple that it's not really a recipe.

Don't forget that the potato filling for masala dosa (and the coconut sambar) contains mustard seed.!!!
Isn't it everyone's favourite?