What is Asafoetida?
Asafoetida is a plant from the Apiaceae family, which includes carrots, parsley, dill, celery, caraway, fennel, and lovage. Most similar in appearance to fennel, asafoetida smells like rotting feet, which causes many cooks to feel nervous about using the herb. In fact, some countries refer to asafoetida as Devil’s Dung because of the foul smell. Native to the Middle East, asafoetida is a perennial plant that grows about six feet (1.83 m) high and bears bright yellow clusters of flowers. The hollow stem and roots of the asafoetida plant house a milky substance that is rich in organic sulfur. This substance is sometimes dried and blended with rice flour to create a flour that is used in cooking. Asafoetida flour has grown in popularity in the United States and has been used worldwide for years. In India, for example, asafoetida is used in all lentil dishes, primarily because the herb is known to prevent and alleviate smelly flatulence. Though it smells offensive, asafoetida tastes much l
It’s a resin taken from the rhizome/root of Ferula asafoetida. The resin can be converted into a powder or compound which isn’t as strong as pure asafoetida. It’s used throughout the world as a spice. It’s most commonly used in Indian and Persian cooking in place of garlic and onion. It is *VERY* strong (a little goes a long way), and it’s also known as Devil’s Dung (one whiff and you’ll know why) and Hing or Hingra (in Indian and Paki markets).
In Hindi, Asafoetida is called Hing. It is widely used in making vegetarian curries and pickles Asafoetida is a sap extracted from the stem of Asafoetida plant. The sap dries into a hard gum-like resin The gum looks and feels like a hard brown stone. The gum is so hard that it can not be grated. Instead, it is hammered to chip a piece away. The chipped piece is fried in Ghee. The fried Hing is easily crushed and used along with other spices to make curry. Nowadays you can buy commercial Asafoetida Powder, that is a made by mixing pounded Gum, Rice flour, and Turmeric powder. Asafoetida is very strong with an un-pleasant odor. As Asafoetida cooks, it becomes mellow and resembles the taste of combined garlic and onion. In some of the recipes, Asafoetida powder may be substituted with onion powder and garlic powder. Jains and many Hindus (specially Bania cas) don’t eat garlic and onion. They cook with Asafoetida instead.
Asafoetida, is a gum, which is obtained from a perennial plant botanically, called as Ferulla foetida. The common name for this gum is Hing. This is widely used spice, which is known for its strong pungent smell. It is yellowish brown in color. It is used as a flavoring for many curries and spicy mixtures and it is also used in making pickles. Apart from adding a unique flavour to the dishes it also has some medicinal properties.
