Mustard
The Tamil name for Mustard is "Kadugu".
In present day, Tamil cuisine and in general Indian cuisine, Mustard plays a major role.
In Tamil cusine, there are various ways of using "Kadugu":
Mustard seeds:
This is one important spice that is used for cooking veg and non-veg foods, curries and side dishes.
Almost all dishes may have a little bit of kadugu. It is definitely there in the standard Tamil food items Sambar, Rasam, Chutneys/Thuvayal.
Mustard seeds are tempered in a little oil before starting to cook a dish. Or tempered mustard seeds are added on top of the dish, after the dish is ready.
Tempering mustard seeds means, heat a pan with little oil, once the oil is hot, add mustard seeds. When mustard seeds pop or splatter then it is tempered.
Please note that mustard seeds available in Tamil Nadu are usually small in size and this gives the authentic taste to our cuisine.
Other names/spelling variations of Mustard seeds:
Kadugu, Kadughu, Katugu, Kaduku