“Like oil in seeds and fragrance in flowers, the soul of man permeates his whole body.” – BKS Iyengar, Light on Pranayama
You may have noticed that many Indian recipes call for starting the cooking process by either dry toasting spices, chilies, curry leaves and dal, etc. in a heated pan or frying them in hot oil or ghee before proceeding to add other ingredients. This technique, generally called tempering in cooking and referred to as tadka and bagar in Hindi (derived from the Sanskrit bagharna) (oggaraṇe in Kannada), prepares the pot for the main substance of the food to be received and adds much of the desired heat, spice and caloric energy (in the way of fats) to a dish. This is a common practice in western cooking methods, as well, like sautéing minced garlic, onion, and occasionally paprika or other spices in oil to start a dish. In Indian cooking, spices are often used whole at this stage as their natural packaging retains all the aromatic punch of the volatile acids inside, which escape much more quickly when cooking them crushed or ground. The volatile acids remain in their shells for a bigger taste explosion later in the mouth and also seep gradually into the heated oil, perfuming everything that will be added to the dish and intermingling throughout.
On a chemical level, tempering activates the volatile oils in the spices and leaves, increasing the flavors and aromas as the heat intensifies their essence on an atomic level as the particles vibrate more rapidly. The downside is that at the temperatures needed for sautéing or frying, the oil oxidizes, reducing some of the antioxidants and health benefits of these seeds and spices.
Although Indian cooks do not always concur on this point, the finest I have encountered insist on tempering over medium or low heat depending on your stove, and never on high (except initially when adding the oil to get the pan going). Doubtless this is to prevent burning as volatile compounds are just that, volatile and more delicate, but also, as all good cooks and professional chefs know, gradual cooking brings out the most intense intrinsic flavor of foods without going too far. Tempering is not a matter of extremes even though it may involve chilies.
So tadka is used to prep, heat up and maximize the seasoning in a dish, but also packs hidden nutritional value. Toasting or frying urad or chana dal ups the protein content as well as adding extra crunch and nutty flavor to a dish. Curry leaves are high in lutein, alpha tocopherol (vitamin E), beta-carotene (pro-vitamin A) and more. The tadka spices in general (eg. cumin, asafetida) aid in digestion and are beneficial for their carminative (gas-reducing) properties. In addition, the tempering process serves to transfer nutrients to the dish as a whole; for example, tempering releases the carotene from fresh curry leaves into the surrounding oil, and later into whatever sauce or liquid you add. The nutritional boost from tadka as a whole is not coincidental but reveals a deeper intuitive sense underlying much of Indian cuisine.
I may be taking the analogy too far but I see many links between tempering in cooking, tempering in other contexts in English, the benefits of the tempering process, the starting/closing mantra and sun salutations/relaxation in yoga.
First, how I liken the tempering process to the opening chant in your yoga practice and the first sun salutations: This is a moment to put the focus on a new endeavor, concentrating the energy on a small area, as well as activating a sort of magical, spirit essence which will infuse your whole yoga practice and/or curry! Your breathing in the chant provides the initial heat to get your practice going; references in Vedic works equating breath and fire are too numerous to mention here.[1] Your inhalations provide your body with extra energy (like the heat of toasting or frying in the pan) and the vibration of the words in your vocal chords, lips, palate, head and thorax is also heat: energy released by virtue of the vibration (kinetic energy) of the atoms, which produce the resonating sound. I see an easy equivalence between the vibrational energy of mustard seeds bouncing and popping in a pan and the mantra buzzing out of your mind and mouth.
In tadka, the spice heat of the chili pepper spreads atomically to the surrounding oil along with the rise in temperature; in chanting and ujjayi breathing the heat and prana which build in your body are prepped for use throughout practice. In a tadka, the chili and spices then work on heating and modifying the dal, vegetables and gravy you are cooking; the dal or vegetables are akin to the gross physical body which is affected by prana, your chanting and ujjayi. Again, a gradual increase in heat and particle motion is preferred, just as your first sun salutation is not so strenuous and you slowly warm up to get your energy moving. In the same way that an initial chant or Om has energy that you carry throughout your practice, the tadka generally holds most of the heat, energy (fat), and flavor to carry off a dish. On occasion part of a mantra will come back to you unexpectedly, you may come to some realization or even see an image without any apparent connection to what you are “doing”, just as an otherwise subtle touch of fried curry leaf or chana dal is suddenly released in your mouth and nose although it did not seem evident in every mouthful.
Needless to say, this tadka process (more familiarly recognized as tarka on Indian restaurant menus abroad, as in "tarka dal") is called “tempering” in English because the temperature rises. In cooking, the traditional purpose is to moderate the food product to the desired strength or to change the physical condition or consistency of a food (as in the case of tempering chocolate). A similar process with heat, also called tempering, is used in metalwork, to strengthen and toughen metals while at the same time increasing their ductility and malleability; as with yoga, metallurgic tempering requires special attention to maintain the delicate balance between strengthening and increasing ductility as the temperature is increased. In yoga, the role of the chant and sun salutations is that of initiating the tempering process in the body. A feeling of tiredness or drowsiness while stepping on the mat can often be dispelled by chanting energetically, or you may simply find that your sleepiness or exhaustion has mysteriously disappeared by the time you finish your chant. The chant is really adjusting and putting you more in focus and in “tune” (on a psychic wavelength) with the practice to follow. The sun salutations, of course, work to build strength and endurance in the physical body as well as maintaining fluid malleability.
The word temper, in English, also refers to your state of mind, emotions and composure (like asanas in the mind). While temper sometimes can be used to describe rage or irritability, “losing one’s temper” means that the temper lost is really a calmness of mind that is lost. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language interestingly includes a now archaic definition of temper as “a middle course between extremes” which we still understand today in the sense of well-tempered and even-tempered and which may sound very familiar to Buddhists. The verb “to temper” signified “to exercise control,” something much worked on with a regular yoga practice. The vibrational energetic analogy seen in bouncing mustard seeds and the mantra you chant can easily be applied to musical vibrations as well. In a well-tempered piano, every key’s pitch was adjusted in relation to the others so that music could be played in any key, creating a better balance with the other keys on the keyboard and making every key usable. Likewise, the idea of tempering in yoga is to make every component in the body function more harmoniously with the others. Just as the tempering process gives quality chocolate its consistency and stability, the tempering process of sun salutations gives stability, fluidity, and strength to you on and off the mat.
Sometimes, Indian tempering is not done at the beginning of a dish’s preparation but as a final step (take for example curd dishes finished with red chili and curry leaves fried in oil or ghee). Instead of the opening chant, this part of the recipe is a final mantra or relaxation, still infusing the effects of your entire practice. In the final tadka the strength and intensity of the flavors are more recent, yet their power is not at all diminished when the dish is served. The fried spice and ghee bind and impregnate everything in the dish rather than the spices’ flavor simply popping up with certain bites. The effect is the same as with tadka starting a dish; it is simply mirrored.
Likewise, a final chant/relaxation ending yoga practice can be equated to the final addition of ghee, a sprinkling of chopped cilantro or fresh squeezed lime/lemon when serving a dish. The ghee should mix and meld with the whole product, adding a glistening completeness to the dish – a true Midas touch. Fresh herbs add extra vitality in the form of vitamins A, C and K (not to mention the A, D, E and K vitamins already in the ghee itself). The final chant and rest after practice in savasana (AKA sukhasana) are the final touch to make you glisten and glow inside, as the good effects of practice are given a chance to move around your body and be assimilated. The final chant and relaxation are vital for restoring energy used in practice.
Ghee offers a similar edge when used to finish a dish’s preparation; besides the antioxidants it contains, it aids the absorption of vitamins and minerals from the food eaten with it and it is traditionally believed that it feeds all layers of body tissue through the quality of the fat it contains.[2] It is undoubtedly true that these fats bond with fat-soluble nutrients and readily penetrate the lipid-based cell membranes throughout the body. Thus, the fresh herbs, lemon, etc., already boosting the vitamin content of a dish, can be used more effectively by your body when served with a dollop of ghee, giving you a magnified vitaminic charge for the day. Incidentally, fresh green chilies, cilantro, or any raw green herb make a great addition to your cooking, Indian or not, because the vitamin C they contain aids in absorbing the iron from your beans and rice. These are intuitive nutritional additions common in Indian cuisine and are not just there to make your mouth burn or add color. Consider ghee and the tadka ingredients to be a way to make your meal more holistic, with more complete interrelationships between the parts.
As a final note, so much talk of tempering reminds one, of course, of perhaps the most famous work involving tempering in the title, Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier, a masterwork made up of preludes and fugues demonstrating that one single instrument could be played in all keys equally well. In Bach’s fugues, he employed inversions in his melodies and themes (essentially turning them upside-down) and in his counterpoint (after two melodies are played together the 2 parts or voices switch roles and mirror each other, the higher moving to a lower position and vice versa). Even with intervalic inversion (inverting single notes)[3] the purpose is to change the perspective or relation between the notes while changing the vibrational energy for a different but familiar experience.
Of the various classical inversions in yoga, sirsasana (headstand) is a good example of a pose undoubtedly changing perspective, the sensorial experience, your vibrational energy and the position of the energy. It’s also worth mentioning the inverted presentation of postures in the ashtanga yoga method and other yoga practices. The surya namaskaras essentially present the equivalent of intervallic inversion in music; the sun salutations mirror themselves going from and to standing – each asana is progressively mirrored with the reflection point being between urdhva and adho mukha svanasana (this flexion point is, of course, in your core and located at the base of your spine). Other asanas are also introduced and then repeated in an altered physical position, working to demonstrate that the body can be played in different energetic keys, standing, sitting and reclining. Examples here include utthita hasta padangusthasana later echoed in supta hasta padangusthasana, garbha pindasana later counterbalanced by pindasana, the prasarita padottanasanas mimicked in the posterior sitting konasanas, and more.
Really a more formal analysis relating music and the yoga practice is necessary, but I think my point demonstrates the existence of an effort throughout yoga to temper the body as you would any instrument or other material (and not just on physical plane). Dexterous as a pianist, a well-tempered yogi, like a well-tempered clavier, begins in one key with his starting mantra, works his way (often using inflections and inversions) in a symmetric form through others (the series of asanas) and returns to the same original one, the balance point (mantra or moment of reflection), just hopefully a little better-tempered than when he started. :)
[1] Please refer to my section on “Agni, Breath, Fire, and Cooking”.
[2] For more on the benefits of ghee, see my section, “The Glories of Ghee.”
[3] For example, C is still C but in a different octave; if before it was lower than the other notes later is it presented higher than the other notes, shifting its position and increasing the energy.
