Panch Phoron

Panch phoron, also spelt panch phoran or panch puran, means five spices, and it is used whole, never ground. The seeds go into hot mustard oil at the start of cooking, where each pops and releases its own flavour: earthy cumin, sweet fennel, bitter fenugreek, oniony nigella and sharp mustard. Some Bengali families use radhuni seed in place of mustard.

It flavours Bengali dal, chorchori and labra mixed vegetables, aloo dishes, pumpkin, fish jhol, tomato chutney and pickles, and it is used across Odisha, Assam, Bihar and Nepal too. Blends vary, and most use roughly equal parts of each seed. Buying it ready mixed saves keeping five jars for one dish, though you can make your own from cumin seeds, fennel seeds and kalonji.

Heat mustard oil until it just smokes, let it cool for a moment, then add a teaspoon of panch phoron with a dried chilli and a bay leaf, and wait for the crackle before adding vegetables. The seeds keep for a year or more sealed. Buy mustard oil for the authentic flavour, and find the rest in whole spices.