From Silphium to Asafoetida:

A Tale of two Ancient spices

By Ammini Ramachandran
South Indian vegetable curries are often garnished with a large pinch of asafoetida (dried and powdered gum resin from a fennel related plant with an acrid taste and strong scent) sautéed in a spoonful of oil or ghee. When asafoetida is added to hot oil, it changes from its strong and powerful smell to an enticing oniony-garlicky aroma. Strict vegetarian diets of India forbid the use onions and garlic, and asafoetida is used in their place for its distinct aroma. It is used in the cooking of various pulses, beans and certain vegetables, certain savory snacks, pickles and chutneys. It is considered a digestive aid and it helps to neutralize flatulence.

The name asafoetida originates from the Persian word aza (mastic resin) and a Latin word foetida meaning stinking. It is also known as devil’s dung because of its strong pungent smell (due to the presence of sulfur compounds). The aromatic resin comes from certain species of the giant fennels, plants of the genus ferula. When the plants are about four or five years old, they develop very thick and fleshy, carrot shaped roots. The resin is collected from these roots just before the plants start flowering in spring or early summer. The milky resinous liquid soon coagulates when exposed to air. The color darkens when it is sun dried into a solid form.

These perennial plants are native to the region between the Mediterranean and Central Asia. Three different species are used in the production of asafoetida, ferula asafoetida, ferula foetida and ferula narthex, each of which shows slight differences in color and properties. Both ferula assafoetida and ferula foetida are native to Iran and Afghanistan and ferula narthex is a native of Afghanistan. Even though most of the world’s production of asafoetida comes from the Middle Eastern regions of Iran and Afghanistan, India is the major consumer of this spice.

It is sold either as lumps or in powdered form. The lump asafoetida is the most common form of pure asafoetida. In making commercially ground asafoetida the resins are combined with small quantities of rice, barley or wheat flour to prevent lumping and to reduce the strong flavor. Processed asafoetida often varies in color and texture because of the difference in additives. It is available as either mustard yellow powder or sandy brown coarse powder.

Asafoetida has remained a part of the Indian spice box for centuries and continues to be used both in cooking and in medicine in India. The ancient Sanskrit text “Kashyapa Samhita”, (circa 200 BC) mentions about the import of asafoetida from Afghanistan. The great Indian epic Mahabharatha (circa 400BC and 300AD) include graphic descriptions of feasts served at picnics. It describes how shoulders and rounds of animals were dressed in ghee, sprinkled with seasalt, black pepper and grilled and garnished with radishes pomegranates, lemons, herbs, asafoetida and ginger. Asafoetida’s use as a tenderizer and preservative for meat was known centuries ago. Iranian cuisine uses it for flavoring meatballs and in Afghanistan it is used in the preparation of dried meat. Although this spice is practically unknown in modern western cuisines, it is used in the United States and Europe in perfumes and commercially prepared flavorings. >more