The Punjab is an area with 5 rivers for example. Panch Phoran is typically cumin seeds, fennel seeds, nigella seeds, mustard seeds and fenugreek seeds. I love fenugreek but don’t like it whole, so I usually leave it out and put cardamom seeds in instead. You can adapt it, but you put it in hot oil right at the start of cooking a curry. The oil (and therefore flavour) comes out of the spices in about 30 seconds and then you add the onions which knocks the temperature down so the Panch doesn’t burn and if you reduce the heat you can sweat the onions – more on that later. But the point is that you can use that technique with any spice; I often just put a few cumin and fennel seeds in a pan at the start of making something completely non-Indian like a Bolognese. Tarka or Tadka is not onions like we are led to believe by pretty much every Indian restaurant, it is Panch, maybe onions, maybe garlic, maybe something else but fried in hot oil and tipped in as a garnish. I think Panch is the perfect Tarka and it really lifts a curry but again use it everywhere; fennel seeds and a few sage leaves in a Bolognese?