Thanks

Jennifer

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).

Hi Jennifer,

Asafoetida is a highly aromatic (rather smelly most would say ;-)) Indian
spice.. here's a link with a very thorough explanation:

http://www.theepicentre.com/Spices/asafetid.html

It's used fairly sparingly, an amount the size of a pea is about as much as you
need. It's also good to fry the powder in oil before adding your
veg/lentils/etc. so that the resin is able to break down properly and permeate
the whole dishe equally. If you buy some, be sure to store it in an air tight
container or else your whole kitchen will come to smell of it :-).

Cheers,

Fritz

T5NF > wrote in message
...
> Hi Jennifer,
>
> Asafoetida is a highly aromatic (rather smelly most would say ;-)) Indian
> spice.. here's a link with a very thorough explanation:
>
> http://www.theepicentre.com/Spices/asafetid.html
>
> It's used fairly sparingly, an amount the size of a pea is about as much
as you
> need. It's also good to fry the powder in oil before adding your
> veg/lentils/etc. so that the resin is able to break down properly and
permeate
> the whole dishe equally. If you buy some, be sure to store it in an air
tight
> container or else your whole kitchen will come to smell of it :-).
>
> Cheers,
>
> Fritz

You're right. I store mine in an airtight jar inside another airtight jar
and I still have to stand well back when I open the spice cupboard!! (^!^)
)

Rotten onions and old socks is a good description! Doesn't half bring out
the flavour of the other ingredients though. The only thing that pongs worse
is the Penicillin I have to take every day because I'm short of spleens to
the tune of one!

Apparently there's a small town in India where Asafoetida is processed and
you can smell the town seven miles away!!!

And Drummond Street in London you can smell 300 metres away! ) Damned
good restaurants down there.

Other less well-known spices that add authenticity are Ajwain (Lovage
seeds), Onion seeds, Black Cardamoms (taste like Dettol!) and curry leaves.
The last one seems obvious but I'm always surprised at the number of people
who don't use them.

Nemo
(Why do I feel like I'm being followed?)