The market · Herbs and aromatics · South Asia
Kasuri methi
Dried fenugreek leaves — bitter-sweet and hay-like, the smell of a North Indian restaurant's butter chicken.
fragrant · bitter · maple-like
If you can't find it
Indian grocers, dried fenugreek leaves in small boxes.
- A pinch of ground fenugreek seed — a third as muchYou lose the leafy, maple-like smell; the seed is bitterer.
Goes with
Knowing it
- Where to buy
- South Asian grocers, in boxes.
- A little history
- Named after Kasur, now in Pakistani Punjab, long known for its fenugreek.
- Worth knowing
- Crush between your palms and add in the last minutes. A tablespoon is plenty.
Kitchens that keep it in
Punjab — northern India and eastern PakistanPunjabiWheat, dairy and the tandoor: rich, generous cooking from the land of five rivers, and the source of much of what the world calls Indian food.10 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 classics
