I have taken an interest in Indian cooking lately and an experimenting with a recipe for Hot Lime Pickles. Yum!

There is one very strange ingredient: Asafoetida. Is anyone familiar with it?

I find a compounded powder of Asafoetida in a local grocery, but it also has wheat and other gum, etc. I have read on the Internet that the main ingredient is extracted from a root and compounded with other things.

I love to experiment with exotic ingredients, but the additives (including the undisclosed ones) in formulated powders give me some hesitation. I am wondering if I really need this stuff? I read that Asafoetida is used as a substitute for garlic. I wonder if garlic could be substituted for Asafoetida? Hmm.

Just curious to hear what you know about this strange herb...

Thank you for your replies!

Regards,
PoseyPlanter

I too love eating Indian food, and after moving from Houston to where there are no Indian restaurants, I've had to learn to cook it. Therefore I've got about 6 to 8 Indian cookbooks. After consulting with them, I have found that basically the information you have found is true. It is suggested to use it in small quantities.

In The Spice and Herb Bible by Ian Hemphill he says that it is descended from the giant perennial fennels that grow wild in Afghanistan, Iran and northern India. He states that the asafoetida sap is collected and processed. There are two powdered types, a brown and a yellow which has turmeric added. He insists that it is what gives lentils, peas and beans their great flavor. Also that it is used in the spice blend "sambar powder".

To answer your question, why not buy some and try it sparingly to see if you like it. If not, you have only "ruined one meal". The next time I'm in Houston, I think that I'll buy some and try it.

Thank you for your replies:)

I’ve been looking in some shops and so far have not found anything that says it contains cornstarch. All the products I saw listed wheat or edible starch (which could be wheat). The problem with wheat is that I have some acquaintances/friends who are either allergic to wheat or cannot eat gluten.

For now, I bought one of the popular brands containing wheat. I will try it in the recipe and see if I think it can be substituted with garlic. If it’s dispensable, I will do some more research to try to find a product that does not contain wheat.

Thanks again!

Regards,
PoseyPlanter

I saw the tears for sale, but the ingredients on the can listed wheat in those too. Maybe sometime I will find it without wheat.

The herb definitely has its own particular smell. The almost-done pickles are sitting on my table in a cloth-covered bowl. Occasionally I get a whiff. Definitely distinctive.

Hi coing,

I recall daisyduckworth recommending it in Cool and different herbs. Do a search to see how big the plant gets. If it’s not too huge for your space, take a risk and plant it:) It will certainly be a conversation piece.

Regards,
PoseyPlanter

Well, 'foetid' does mean smelly!

The stuff you use in cooking is a resin obtained by the roots of plants 4 years old. You're best to try and find a plant, rather than to try seeds, because seeds must be very fresh. The plant takes some years before it flowers and dies after flowering. Plants usually flower after about 5 years. The whole plant, especially when bruised, has an unpleasant smell like stale fish.

It filled my whole kitchen with its odd, foetid odor, and I had to place it in a better container.

I went back to work, and gave up on new recipe ingredients for awhile, but recently bought some in powdered form in a local Indian grocerette. The young woman working there was a vegetarian, and very enthusiastic about it--she told me how to add it to some of the vegetables I purchased in the store, and said that she added it to almost everything.

In my opinion, nothing else can take the place of a meat flavor as well as Hing, or Asafoetida. I think that garlic and onion can be a substitute, but they are not really comparable; the flavor and fragrance are quite unique, and if you live in the West,you have probably not experienced anything like it unless in a dish in an Indian restaurant.

I like to use it to add interest to soups--not only the pureed Indian-type ones with vegetables and lentils, but even to add a different flavor to canned soups! It really fills out the flavor of a meatless soup,if you find you like the flavor. In fact, that is probably the safest way to get to know it--in a canned soup--so that you don't add it to a main course you made from scratch without knowing how it will taste. Using it in a soup will also give you practice as to how much to use.

¡Wow! I did not expect to see this thread surface again. ¡¿What fun?!

Spoonlegs, Thanks for the info on the rice bound product at http://www.frontiercoop.com/search.php! That is exactly what I’ve been looking for!

Kewl beans (which of course will now be better AND wheat free for my friends who cannot eat wheat/gluten;)

Regards to all,
PoseyPlanter

Richters
Horizon Herbs
Nichols Garden Nursery
Pinetree Seeds
Johnny Seeds

FataMorgana

Try searches with its various names at google for sources. I used the botanical name and got the following. Try various other words in combination in the searches like "100%" or "pure" to get different results.

FataMorgana