Asafoetida

David said:

If I go ahead trying new vego recipes without asafoetida
will it make the outcome significantly different from
using it?

Yes, but fortunately, you can substitute garlic. It's not
quite the same, but it's close enough for most. See,
asafoetida was used as a garlic substitute by a Northern
Indian group who believe that garlic was undesirable.

(That's an oversimplification, but I'll let others tell the
big story. The little story is that you can use garlic as a
substitute for asafoetida.)

Bob

"David Hare-Scott" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I have a recipe book for vegetarian food and many of the
dishes contain small dashes of asafoetida. I am living
well away from big-city specialty shops at present and
such things are just not available. I know that one can
always adapt and work around missing ingredients but in
some cases

there

Quoted message said:

is no substitute and the dish can becpme quite different
if a key item is missing.

If I go ahead trying new vego recipes without asafoetida
will it make the outcome significantly different from
using it?

David

Asafoetida is added to give a general onion / garlic type
flavour. As such it is supposed to enhance other flavours,
especially in vegetarian Indian food. I suppose you could
add extra garlic and onion. It is also added to lentil
dishes and is thought to help prevent flatulence. I don't
know what to suggest for this effect!

Colin

David Hare-Scott said:

I have a recipe book for vegetarian food and many of the
dishes contain small dashes of asafoetida.

Just remember that in French it is called "Merde du diable".
Maybe you can live without it.

Phil

"David Hare-Scott" <[email hidden]> wrote in
:"]news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

If I go ahead trying new vego recipes without asafoetida
will it make the outcome significantly different from
using it?

You can use onion and garlic, as asafoetida is a substitute
for onion and garlic in the cooking of Jains (India).

theepicentre.comasafetid.htmlOpen ↗

--

Certainty of death. Small chance of success. What are we
waiting for?

Gimli, son of Gloín

David Hare-Scott said:

If I go ahead trying new vego recipes without asafoetida
will it make the outcome significantly different from
using it?

Yes. But, don't lose any sleep over it. Despite what others,
and the following website claim, safoetida has a totally
unique fragrance which, to me, smells nothing like onions or
garlic. Of course I don't keep a lot of rotting onions
laying around. The place I purchased the freshest, therefore
the strongest, asafoetida from would not store the stuff
inside the building, as the smell was so pungent. The kept
it out back by the gas meter[1]. Even though your dish will
miss this weird flavor, it will still be fine. Just make it
a point to get some in the future. It definitely adds a new
dimension. You can tell a home or restaurant that uses
asafoetida, as it will eventually permeate every part of the
place and give it that distinct "Indian cooking" smell (not
a bad thing 🙂.

theepicentre.comasafetid.htmlOpen ↗

[1] Ironically, this place eventually fell victim to a fire.
I sometimes wonder if the cause might have been the
asafoetida out-sthinking the smell of leaking gas? 🙂

nb
--
Be considerate of others and trim your posts. Thank you.

"David Hare-Scott" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I have a recipe book for vegetarian food and many of the
dishes contain small dashes of asafoetida. I am living
well away from big-city specialty shops at present and
such things are just not available. I know that one can
always adapt and work around missing ingredients but in
some cases

there

Quoted message said:

is no substitute and the dish can becpme quite different
if a key item is missing.

If I go ahead trying new vego recipes without asafoetida
will it make the outcome significantly different from
using it?

David

Yes - there is nothing quite like asafoetida. You can buy it
mail order and it keeps a long time.

Peter Aitken

notbob said:

David Hare-Scott said:

If I go ahead trying new vego recipes without asafoetida
will it make the outcome significantly different from
using it?

Yes. But, don't lose any sleep over it.

I never use it and don't notice the difference. I have eaten
things with it in but won't use it myself as it has a
disgusting smell and I don't want to handle
it.

Quoted message said:

Despite what others, and the following website claim,
safoetida has a totally unique fragrance

What it has I would not term a fragrance, as fragrance
implies a pleasant scent.

Quoted message said:

which, to me, smells nothing like onions or garlic. Of
course I don't keep a lot of rotting onions laying around.
The place I purchased the freshest, therefore the
strongest, asafoetida from would not store the stuff
inside the building, as the smell was so pungent.

Pungent is putting it mildly - smells like the rotting
corpse of a skunk.

It doesn't smell bad once it's cooked. And you only use a
tiny amount. The taste is not bad cooked, although I would
be afraid to taste it raw. Anyway, it's the raw odor that is
so disagreeable. I don't think it's so strong that you can't
keep it in the house, wrapped up. I had it around for a long
time, but when I unwrapped it to use it I found the smell so
repugnant I threw it out.

Quoted message said:

The kept it out back by the gas meter[1]. Even though your
dish will miss this weird flavor, it will still be fine.
Just make it a point to get some in the future. It
definitely adds a new dimension. You can tell a home or
restaurant that uses asafoetida, as it will eventually
permeate every part of the place and give it that distinct
"Indian cooking" smell (not a bad thing 🙂.

That distinctive "Indian cooking" smell doesn't smell
anything like asafoetida. You're right that the "Indian
cooking" smell is wonderful. I used to live in an apartment
building and loved coming home from work and going past the
apartment of my Indian neighbors. I was sorely tempted to
knock on the door every time and invite myself to dinner.

Kate

--
Kate Connally “If I were as old as I feel, I’d be dead
already.” Goldfish: “The wholesome snack that smiles back,
Until you bite their heads off.” What if the hokey pokey
really *is* what it's all about? "][email hidden]

"notbob" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:%0Czc.53910$HG.30069@attbi_s53...

Quoted message said:

David Hare-Scott said:

If I go ahead trying new vego recipes without asafoetida
will it make

the

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

outcome significantly different from using it?

Yes. But, don't lose any sleep over it. Despite what
others, and the following website claim, safoetida has a
totally unique fragrance which,

to

Quoted message said:

me, smells nothing like onions or garlic. Of course I
don't keep a lot of rotting onions laying around. The
place I purchased the freshest,

therefore

Quoted message said:

the strongest, asafoetida from would not store the stuff
inside the building, as the smell was so pungent.

So rank it for me say compared to blachan (trasi)? When
frying this in preparation for Malay/Indonesian dishes the
house fills with the delightful aroma of rotten prawns. That
bad? Worse?

David

"Bob" <virtualgoth@die_spammer.com> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

David said:

If I go ahead trying new vego recipes without asafoetida
will it make

the

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

outcome significantly different from using it?

Yes, but fortunately, you can substitute garlic. It's not
quite the same, but it's close enough for most. See,
asafoetida was used as a garlic substitute by a Northern
Indian group who believe that garlic was undesirable.

(That's an oversimplification, but I'll let others tell
the big story. The little story is that you can use garlic
as a substitute for asafoetida.)

Bob

David, Go ahead and leave out the asafoetida from the dish.
Adding onions or garlic for that matter instead of
asafoetida will result in a completely different dish many
times. This is especially true for South Indian vegetarian
recipes, for example a coconut-cumin-pepper-moong based dish
called "kootu" will morph into a "korma" if you do
substitute with onions. Of course, korma is a great dish, so
it might not be totally a bad thing
:-).

Kamala.

I couldn't resist "sticking my nose in" on this one. I think
of the Big Stinky Triumvirate (blachan/terasi, asafoetida,
and durian), hing/heeng/asafoetida would win for most "bang"
for your buck. Oddly, I have all three of these somewhat
noxious items in the house at the moment (the durian
courtesy of an Indian friend who received it from a Chinese
guy at work and passed it on to me, the Northern European--
God, I love living in California!)

My SO, a garden designer, loves to use Ferula (the genus of
which hing is a species, Ferula assa-foetida I think) in his
work. Got some seeds from one of Christopher Lloyd's plants
at Great Dixter.

I'd go ahead and try to secure some lump or powdered hing,
just to have it. It really is a necessary item for
"proper" Indian food and is quite deligthful when used
properly. And what about kala namak (black salt) for the
truly delicious/nasty sulphur smell in chaat. A must have!
I now have two fridges (one in the garage) so I can keep
all my stinking/nasty/seldom-used stuff in the garage and
go "shopping" when I need a particularly vile or obscure
item. Much nicer than stumbling across something creepy
when you're trying to get a glass of milk in the middle of
the night!

And I'd have to say that the uniquely "Indian" smell of
Indian food is really fenugreek (methi), not hing, although
hing adds it's own note to the symphony.

I think someone should start a stinking food thread (I'm
sure it has been done). An homage to durian, kala namak,
stink beans (from Indonesia/Malaysian), terasi/blachan,
mam ruoc (wet shrimp paste), pra rook (Cambobian fermented
fish which smells oddly like cheese!). And don't forget
maeng dah (those banana-essence scented water beetles you
can buy frozen in a styrafoam three-pack from your local
Khmer store).

Noel in Napa

Peter Aitken wrote: Yes - there is nothing quite like
asafoetida. You can buy it mail order and

Quoted message said:

it keeps a long time.

And, the smell of hing changes to something very very nice
after just moments in hot oil. blacksalt

In article <[email hidden]>,

Kate Connally said:

It doesn't smell bad once it's cooked. And you only use a
tiny amount. The taste is not bad cooked, although I would
be afraid to taste it raw. Anyway, it's the raw odor that
is so disagreeable. I don't think it's so strong that you
can't keep it in the house, wrapped up.

We store our supply in a plastic bag inside a glass jar at
the back of the freezer.

Miche

--
If you want to end war and stuff you got to sing loud. --
Arlo Guthrie, "Alice's Restaurant"

On Wed, 16 Jun 2004 05:12:39 GMT, "David Hare-Scott"
<[email hidden]> wrote:

<snip>

Quoted message said:

So rank it for me say compared to blachan (trasi)? When
frying this in preparation for Malay/Indonesian dishes the
house fills with the delightful aroma of rotten prawns.
That bad? Worse?

It's closer to "a few days dead in a warm place" mammal than
prawn; but certainly in the same ballpark IMO. I know some
cuisines use it and I freely admit I may be missing
something; but I can't imagine putting anything that smells
that disgusting into a dish I actually intended to eat.
OTOH, I can definitely see where it might be useful to
ensure that unwanted dinner guests go away and never return.

Regards, Tracy R.