i made 2 off madras curry sauces (CK's) last night for myself for tea. in the 2nd thought i'd give the hing a go.

i grated it (having not read Secret Santa's tip) to achieve a pinch or around 1/3 tsp. i added it with the garlic.

the taste is quite different, sort of subtle (i don't actually know what i'd imagined it was going to be). i did not think it changed the immediate taste of the curry. i could detect it though as an after taste.

i think CA summed it up for me earlier. i did not recognise the taste as something i'd eaten before in BIR. that's not to say it's not used. for me it's just not a key element.

there's possibly an argument to put in less than i used - bottom line though it just does not shout BIR to me.

putting it in base has occurred but i don't feel a need.

felt i had to give it a go but it's not for me (59p is not a big loss).

many thanks all for providing the background which eased greatly the finding and trying.

My girlfriend pointed out that the kitchen had a urine-ish smell lately which was also in the curries. I had been testing out hing again! It's definately a strange one. I think i'll only use it in madras from now on. It seems to work best and makes the madras a bit more individual.
I use a powder from a health food shop which states it is pure. That may or may not be true. It's pretty much grey with a tinge of yellow and smells so much i quarantine it. Quite like cat's wee.

i have a little yellow tub of the stuff too, bought it more outta curiosity.

to be honest i dont notice any diffrence in my vindaloo with it in or not

Quote from: jimmy2x on May 07, 2010, 03:15 PM
i have a little yellow tub of the stuff too, bought it more outta curiosity.

to be honest i dont notice any diffrence in my vindaloo with it in or not

You won't find much effect with the yellow powder type jimmy2x because they're mostly turmeric!

If you want to actually get its effect use the resin variety  and melt it in the frying oil or, get a better brand of powder. The best powder I have used is from Bart's spices.

Alternatively use a lot of the crappy powders, say 3tsp, and compensate by reducing the amount of turmeric in your mix powder.

I always use it in vindaloo and it has a very noticeable effect on the taste that some may not like/want.

Quote from: Secret Santa on May 07, 2010, 03:24 PMYou won't find much effect with the yellow powder type jimmy2x because they're mostly turmeric!

I've just been to the cupboard to have a look at my Schwartz Jar and I was amazed to find that Asafoetida only makes up 7% of the total jar! The bulk of it is Rice Flour with Turmeric less than 7%.

Well I never.

Try the stuff from SEASONED PIONEERS.

Pricey, but at least you're not paying for rice flour.

Cheers
CoR

I used to add it to my onions while they were frying but I've not used it in quite a while....not since I dropped a tub of it and I couldn't get the stench out of the kitchen for days... It's supposed to be a good antiflatulent but if 'im indoors was anything to go by it didn't work too well unless I wasn't using it in high enough quantities lol - plus I fry a teaspoon of cumin seeds with my onions now, adds a nice flavour and doesn't make me vomitoius to open a tub of it ;D

Quote from: Secret Santa on May 07, 2010, 03:24 PM

Quote from: jimmy2x on May 07, 2010, 03:15 PM
i have a little yellow tub of the stuff too, bought it more outta curiosity.

to be honest i dont notice any diffrence in my vindaloo with it in or not

You won't find much effect with the yellow powder type jimmy2x because they're mostly turmeric!

If you want to actually get its effect use the resin variety  and melt it in the frying oil or, get a better brand of powder. The best powder I have used is from Bart's spices.

Alternatively use a lot of the crappy powders, say 3tsp, and compensate by reducing the amount of turmeric in your mix powder.

I always use it in vindaloo and it has a very noticeable effect on the taste that some may not like/want.

Interesting SS I assumed it was more popular in traditional Indian cooking, however I will give it a try as there is some in my cupboard
cheers.

I always add a dash into my Onion Bhajis, it doesn't bring a lot to the party but it does help bring out the onion taste.

I can't remember the last time I used it to be honest as I don't think it's something you'll find in a BIR Kitchen.

Something I did note yesterday though. When I first bought the jar and smelt the contents, you could certainly smell an underlying almost onion smell along with its very Chemistry Lab over all smell.

Yesterday when I went to have a look at the ingredient list, my eldest dughter had a friend over and both were inquisitive as to what it was. So I let them smell it and asked them to describe it. Neither was able to, having got past the initial pong.

Before explaining it to them I smelt it again. I couldn't detect any onion smell in it at all this time. Just its odd Chemistry Lab smell.