Typical south indian tempering/tiragamota/popu

All South Indian kitchens use tempering in their cooking. Most South Indian dishes including curry, pappu (dal), rasam, pacchadi (chutney), pickles, and many others have a dash of tempering as the first part of cooking.

A typical south Indian tempering consists of:

1. 2-3 tsp vegetable oil
2. avalu/mustard seeds – 1/2 tsp
3. senaga pappu/yellow lentils – 1 tsp
4. minapappu/horsebean/urad dal – 1 tsp
5.  Endu merapakaya/dried red chilly – 2
6. sajeera/cumin seeds – 1/2 tsp
7. Karivepaku – Curry leaves – 10-12 

1. Heat oil in pan.
2. Add mustard seeds.
3. Wait for them to crackle.
4. Add the rest of the ingredients one after the other.
5. Add curry leaves at the end.
6. Make sure they don’t burn. Always have low flame while tempering.