Mustard Seed

What a Cook Needs to Know First

Pungency comes from glucosinolates (sharp-tasting compounds in cabbage-family vegetables) that release isothiocyanates when crushed and moistened.

Yellow seed is broad and mild, brown seed sharp and volatile — different compounds.

Mustard is a regulated major food allergen in the EU and UK — reactions can be serious.

Khardal has travelled through Silk Road kitchens and pantries for millennia. Crush and moisten the tiny seed, and it releases allyl isothiocyanate — the sharp, tearing pungency behind every household mustard paste. First and foremost, it's a cooking seed: whole in torshi and tempering oil, ground into paste with vinegar, and mild until the moment it's broken.

Known to botanists as Brassica juncea (brown) / Sinapis alba (yellow).