The market · Spices · South Asia

Asafoetida

Hing: the dried resin of a giant fennel, sulphurous in the jar and like cooked onion and garlic once fried.

pungent · sulphurous · garlicky when cooked

What to do with it

Classics built on it
GujaratiUndhiyuA winter medley of flat beans, purple yam, sweet potato, baby aubergine and plantain, slow-cooked with fenugreek dumplings and a green masala of coconut and coriander.No one here has made it yetGujaratiKhandviGram flour cooked with yoghurt into a thick batter, spread paper-thin, rolled into soft spirals and tempered with mustard seed, sesame and coconut.No one here has made it yetGujaratiDal dhokliPieces of spiced wholewheat dough simmered in a sweet-sour toor dal with peanuts, jaggery and lemon — a whole meal in one pot.No one here has made it yetGujaratiGujarati kadhiYoghurt thickened with a little gram flour, simmered thin with ginger and chilli, sweetened slightly and tempered with ghee, cumin, clove and curry leaves.No one here has made it yetGujaratiHandvoA savoury cake of fermented rice and lentil batter with grated bottle gourd, baked or pan-cooked until crusty and topped with a mustard and sesame tempering.No one here has made it yetGujaratiSev tameta nu shaakTomatoes cooked down with garlic, chilli and a little jaggery into a sweet-sour gravy, with crisp gram-flour sev scattered over just before eating.No one here has made it yetKashmiriRogan joshMutton on the bone, browned in hot fat and simmered with yoghurt, fennel, dried ginger and Kashmiri chilli into a deep red gravy that's fragrant more than fiery.No one here has made it yetKashmiriKashmiri dum alooSmall whole potatoes, pricked and fried golden, then simmered slowly in yoghurt with Kashmiri chilli, fennel and dried ginger.No one here has made it yetRajasthaniDal baati churmaHard, round wheat breads baked in the coals and soaked in ghee, eaten with a spiced mixed dal and churma — the same dough crushed with ghee and sugar.No one here has made it yetRajasthaniGatte ki sabziDumplings of spiced gram flour, boiled and sliced, then simmered in a tangy yoghurt gravy.No one here has made it yetSouth IndianSambarPigeon-pea lentils cooked with tamarind, vegetables and a roasted spice powder, then tempered — poured over rice, or with idli and dosa.No one here has made it yetSouth IndianRasamA thin, peppery, sour broth of tamarind and tomato, with cumin and garlic — poured over rice, or drunk from a cup.No one here has made it yet

If you can't find it

Indian grocers, as hing — keep it in a sealed jar.

  1. 1Garlic
    A little garlic and onion, cooked in the oil
    You lose hing's sulphurous savour; it's gentler.

Goes with

red lentilgheecumin seedmustard seed

Knowing it

Where to buy
South Asian grocers, usually as a yellow powder cut with flour. Keep it in a tightly sealed jar, inside another.
A little history
Used by those who avoid onion and garlic — Jains and some Brahmins — to give the same depth.
Worth knowing
A pinch, fried in the fat for a few seconds before anything else goes in.

Kitchens that keep it in

Gujarat — western India, on the Arabian SeaGujaratiSweet, sour and gently hot: a largely vegetarian kitchen of gram flour, jaggery and buttermilk, of steamed and fried snacks, and a thali with a little of everything.9 classicsKashmir and Jammu — the Kashmir Valley and the hills below it, in India's far northKashmiriLamb, saffron and fennel in a high valley ringed by mountains: meat slow-cooked in yoghurt or red with Kashmiri chilli, greens from the lake, and kahwa against the cold.9 classicsRajasthan — the Thar Desert and the Aravalli hills of north-western IndiaRajasthaniDesert cooking: millet, lentils and gram flour, ghee in generous measure, dried beans and berries that keep, fiery red meat from the Rajput courts and sweets made for festivals.9 classicsSouth India — the southern peninsula, between the Arabian Sea and the Bay of BengalSouth IndianRice, lentils, coconut and tamarind: fermented batters, sour broths and a sizzle of mustard seed and curry leaves, from the tiffin that starts the day to the feast on a banana leaf.10 classics

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