Phew! Asafoetida Storage

[FaustianBargain]

And, now my questions are: Is this stuff safe to use in food? Meaning it smells so strong that if I put into any recipes, I am afraid the whole dish will taste, and worse SMELL, so bad that I won't be able to eat it.

When cooked, does the smell mellow out? And does it blend in well with the other ingredients/spices to make a dish taste good?

its 110% safe to use it..it blends so well that its usually the mystery ingredient....you cant detect that foul smell in a cooked dish....if you drop a tsp or something of the stuff, the dish will be 1.ruined 2. smell 3.taste VERY bad...remember..just a pinch..and a tiny one at that...acc to quantity...the smell not only mellows out..it doesnt smell anything like the raw stuff..i think thats why its key that you sprinkle it over hot oil..the heat probably breaks stuff down and gets the flavour evenly to the ingredients that will be added later on...e.g. for potatoes..add it before the potatoes go into the hot oil..for liquid items..like 'rasam' or 'sambhar'(i have NO idea how it is used in north indian kitchens..these are typically south indian versions)...just add it to the tamarind water...

[gingerly]

I live in Japan and recently went to India and ate myself to death...

That being the case, I am now at egullet discovering how to cook, besides just eat, Indian food.

we now have proof that you CAN take it with you!Pompollo-if you can hear me,tap the # key twice! the stuff is good-you of course need fear no food ever again!a word of advice though-use it or lose it...completely .and that goes for all those adventurers out there who are hoarding caches of asofoetida...

oh -and l.g .'compounded' for me too!

[nessa]

)Ok, verdict is in. I have the L&G stuff too, and I used it last night to make aloo gobi mattar. All I can say is bring it on! Good stuff, and next time I'll probably use more! Most delicious!

[chickenlady]

Thanks to nessa for pointing me to this thread.

I used asafoetida once in a cabbage dish, but was most unhappy with the results. Although the finished dish did taste okay, I couldn't get the smell out of my head and it really ruined it for me. I retired the little yellow plastic jar to the back of the spice rack, vowing never to use it again but too cheap to throw a full bottle of spice away. (Incidently, I can only smell it if I open the jar or stick my nose right on it--scary to think that I may have a mild version!) Besides, perhaps it would come in handy as a bunny repellent in my garden!

Anyway, thanks to all these tips on correct usage, I believe I will give it another try. Maybe I'll start with something that I can fix one day and eat the next so I have time to forget the smell. Any suggestions?

[Edward]

I love the taste and smell of hing. Even raw. James beard once compared it to truffles. I think the best and most basic way to use it if you are new to it is in dal. Just make a tadka of ghee, cumin seeds and whole dried red chilies adding a good pinch of hing just before you toss the masala on the dal. Ghee and hing are friends.

[Monica Bhide]

Ghee and hing are friends.

sounds like a love song in the making

[chromedome]

the worst offender, imo, is urad dhal...

I just cooked urad dhal last week for the first time ever. I'll second that observation (and so will my wife...).

[Human Bean]

Returning for the moment to the subject of the original post, I have a bottle of "VANDEVI COMPOUNDED ASAFOETIDA." It's in a yellow plastic bottle and is diluted with gum arabic, wheat, rice flour, and turmeric.

If I hold my nose right next to the bottle, I can smell the asafoetida, but not otherwise. If I open the lid, it's certainly potent enough. The perfume hasn't made it's presence known over a large area.

I've never had a problem with cooked (or raw, in moderation) asafoetida; it seems to be one of those things like durian or fish sauce that smells not so good but tastes fine.

[mongo_jones]

i'm another one of those who has never had problems with hing/asafoetida aromas migrating to other parts of the pantry or smelling so strong as to require extreme measures. not in the u.s, and not back in india. and i have a super-sensitive nose. can't explain it. maybe tana got a package that into which something had crawled and died before it got to her? now that's a tasty thought.

[gingerly]

the word 'perungkayam' is tamil for asafoetida and literally translates 'big wound'.legend has it that a bull with a large wound on its neck sought relief by rubbing it against a shrub.some days later,the wound healed.on investigating the plant,it was found that the resin with curative properties that exuded from it was asafoetida.

among the bullievers.

[gingerly]

er-one for the opposition perhaps?

when there is a blocked pipe,instead of calling the plumber,the monks add a little hing to clear it.