Heeng, Asafoetida

Spice no. 17 

Heeng! is a beloved spice in the Indian household. We don't grow the plants which are from the parsley family and leaves look similar to fennel leaves and Dill. I cannot imagine my life without asafoetida as children we grow up hating the sulphuric smell but learn to appreciate the benefits in our tadka. Eating Dal  everyday without heeng would have caused bloating. In the scenario of limited access to water and unclean habits prevalent across India asafetida was always kept aside in the kitchen as an antidote to indigestion. 

Strange that this clump like thing sold in tiny cubes or rocks are light to hand. This makes one wonder what it is? Well it is the sap that comes out of the the rhizomes and solidifies into brown lumps. A 4-5 year old tree of the Ferula asafeotida having a decent sized tap root is ideal, the rhizome are exposed and slashed to let the sap ooze out and form the resin lumps. The fresh resin smells very strongly sulphurous. This is exactly what is desired flavouring in our Indian food. The best quality comes from Iran and Afghanistan. Lahaul valley in Himachal is now being used for cultivation. One single plant gives only 500 gms of Heeng hence the cultivation and production makes it an expensive spice. Since Heeng is very strong in flavour and aroma it needs to be used with care and hence commercially it is sold as compound with wheat or rice in the form of powder. This compound also make asafoetida economical for home use.

While most spices came via the sea brought by the Merchant ships asafoetida is credit to be brought to Indian via land over the Hindu Kush mountains by the army of Alexandar. 

We have now reached the end of the Masala trail. We have gathered all the spices that are desired and now let us make Koli masala with these. Yes all these 17 spices are included in my community's masala including Agri and East Indian bottle Masala. Our masalas are similar with slight variation and preferences from family to family. 

After grinding the masala and filling the jars and bottles don't forget to drop a small lump of heeng. The Masala has to last a year on the shelf!