These small seeds come in three varieties: white or yellow, brown and black. Of course, the yellow kind are used to make mustard, having a strong, peppery taste and the brown or black are generally used in Indian cuisine.
They are fried in hot oil at the beginning of the preparation, sometimes with cumin seeds and / or curry leaves and will begin to pop, quite alarmingly when hot enough. You should be careful not to get the seeds into your eyes and also careful not to let them burn, which can happen quite quickly.
In India, the seeds are sometimes planted to produce saag, a green which is eaten as a vegetable, similar to spinach.
I use mustard seeds in a curry, frying them with curry leaves right at the beginning. As soon as they start to pop, I cover the pan and wait a few moments until they have all popped and turned a shade lighter and then add the onion and ginger to stop the popping and so prevent them from burning. They produce a nice bitter, earthy element which permeates the final dish.
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