Mustard is an integral part of Indian kitchen. It’s kind of a suicide bomber, it explodes in hot oil just to make food taste heavenly, almost every day!
There is an interesting story in Indian folklore for mustard. It’s about how Buddha used the reference of mustard to bring enlightenment to a woman in sorrow.
After losing her only child, Kisa Gotami became desperate and asked if anyone can help her. Her sorrow was so great that many thought she had already lost her mind. An old man told her to meet Buddha. Buddha told her that before he could bring the child back to life, she should find white mustard seeds from a family where no one had died. She desperately went from house to house, but to her disappointment, she could not find a house that had not suffered the death of a family member. Finally the realization struck her that there is no house free from mortality. She returned to the Buddha, who comforted her and preached to her the truth. She was awakened and entered the first stage of arhatship