Hey
I have skipped quite a few blog posts the past few weeks. Sincere Apologies. It's been almost eight months since the first blog post was published. I looked up the previous posts. Until now, I have shared my views and opinions on current concerns, films and shared stories-my own and written/told by different people. While doing this, I did a fair share of research for information; but very sincerely, the blogs expressed my thoughts and views. Am very grateful to all my readers for reading them, encouraging me with your comments.
This breakaway gave me time to reconfigure my thoughts about writing posts. I wanted to write something different and thought that in future, I want to write posts that would give my readers some meat to dig into. Blame the influence of putting reading and food on Francis Bacon 'some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed and some few to be chewed and digested". This helped me decide that the future posts include blog posts on topics/ issues that demand a little more research, a little more exciting aspects of our everyday life, presenting a slice of life, as it were. And that slice of life which are a part of us, influence the way we think, behave and shape our lives. I do hope that you will find these in the blog posts and encourage me as you have done all these months.
And what could be better than 'Food' to begin with? And, being the South Indian woman who enjoys cooking, I could not help but start with the most important beginning of any every day and/or savoury food-Asafetida.
Nomenclature:
What an extraordinary tongue-twister of a name for 'hing' (Hindi), ingu (Kannada),inguva (Telugu), badharani (Gujarati), perungayam (Tamil) Kayam (Malayalam), hilteel (arabbi) and anagajah (Pharsi) and sahasravedhi (Sanskrit). Its etymology says aza (Persian & Latinised to 'asa') means resin and 'foetidus' means 'smelling, fetid'. Perhaps, this also explains the German word for asafetida is DevilsDung !! But, I find the Sanskrit term the most descriptive nomenclature of asafetida. And Who can say 'What's in a name?'!!!
History of Asafetida:
It belongs to the Central Asia-Eastern Iran, Western Afghanistan and Parts of Kashmir. Asafoetida is extracted from the roots of the tree that is as tall as 7feet. The tree has a tuberous root similar in shape to a carrot. When the root is cut open horizontally, the oozing liquid turns into a resin(gum). This is collected and used in cooking. India is the largest importer of this food. (and www.firstpost.com records that now Himachal Pradesh, India, is growing asafetida too)
Entry into India:
Much as we would like to claim Asafetida's 'Indianness', it has a distinctly rich and royal global history of its own. Some cultures have recorded historical evidence of its presence. It is said that Asafetida entered Europe through Alexander the Great. His soldiers seemed to have mistaken it to be the rare plant 'silphium' that tenderises the meat and took it with them. Babylonian King Marduk-appla-iddina II (721 -710 BC) cultivated the plant in his garden and it is mentioned the medical catalogue of King Ashurbanipal of Nineveh near modern Mosul, Iraq. It also finds its way into Charakasamhita with
"vatasleshmavibhandhagnam katusnam dipanam laghu
hingu shulaprasamanam vidyat pacanarocanam II
(the gum resin of hingu reduces colic pain, is carminative and palatable) (https://www.easyayurveda.com/)
Storage:
Asafetida is collected, dried and stored in air-tight containers. It is used in semi-solid, hard or powdered form in India. Romans stored in large glass jars with Chilgoza or pine nuts. When required, they would choose the required quantity of the nuts, crush it and that would be used in their recipe. or it was dissolved in a broth made of pepper, parsley, honey and vinegar. This basic broth was added while cooking vegetables, meat or lentils that lent the dish exotic flavour and fragrance (and of course, garlic and asafoetida would never be used together in the same dish.) What's very interesting is that these antique recipes do not mention the addition of salt!!
Medicinal Properties:
According to Ayurveda, asafetida or ingu or sahasravedi has many medicinal values. It is used to aid digestion, it is anti-bloating, antibiotic has cancer-curing properties, and traditionally, pregnant women are advised not to eat it as it acts as a contraceptive. Jamaican myth says that it is a spirit repeller. African- American Hoodoo tradition believes that when asafoetida is used in magic spells, it has properties to curse and protect from demonic forces; it can be a channel to connect with the evil forces as well !! Phew, some 'power' that is!!
At home, in the Kitchen:
The use of Asafetida is not limited to vegetarianism, much as we would like to believe. It is said that for centuries, Indians washed their meat and fish with hing-water. It is documented, I believe, by Someshwara III, Emperor of the Western Chalukaya (1127-1138, son of King Vikramaditya and ??😰 ) Kashmiri Hindus used 'hing' as an alternative to onion and garlic. Even today, Kashmiri's, either do not or use much less of, onion and garlic than the most of the Indian cuisine. Asafetida is also used in the 'bhog' offered to 'Mother Kali'. And we can also claim that it is Indians who came up with the best way of using 'hing'-- fry it in ghee/ oil for about 20 seconds to get the maximum benefit of this resin!
A Recipe to test or to cherish?!!
I found this very interesting recipe- Masoor Dal with hing. (Am trying it right away though) Pressure cook the Massor Dal. Heat oil in a pan, add spring onions and curry leaves and cook till it thickens. Coarse grind dhania seeds, honey, pudina (mint) leaves and hing. Add this to the cooked dal mixture. The recipe says 'DO NOT ADD SALT'. That's very interesting and tried to find why so; but could not. Dear Reader, if you find the answer do share it in the comment space.
For those painful abdominal days due to bloating, put a pinch of ingu in your buttermilk and drink it. It relieves you of pain almost immediately. I have found this to be a reliable home remedy.
Now I know why women swear by the Kannada proverb "ingu-tengu iddare manganu Adige maadutte".(Lit- if there is asafetida and coconut, even a monkey can cook) 😂😂
If you are interested, do watch the collection of asafetida
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pjt1zi6lEQQ
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