I would also like to mention of spices that they are usually fried in oil for a few seconds up to a few minutes, depending on how quickly their flavor is released.

This tends to both take the edge off a spice and make it more pervasive in a dish.

Feel free to ask me about specific cook times of each spice. WHat we usually do is heat the oil to barely sputtering (medium heat) and then add the spices one at a time and stir. This mixture is then added to the dal, beans, quinoa, etc.