Hing, also known as asafoetida, is the dried sap of a mountain shrub, and its flavor is incomparable and essential to many South Indian dishes. The aroma is infamously sharp when raw, but after blooming in a little bit of oil at the beginning of the cooking process, it adds a deep, savory, allium flavor — it's a wonderful alternative to those with a sensitivity to onions and garlic. Those who cook with hing know that a little goes a long way. Start with 1/8 tsp and bloom it in fat at the beginning of the cooking process.
Most hing is blended with rice or wheat flour in order to prevent caking, but we wanted to provide a grain- and gluten-free version, so we blended it with our New Harvest Turmeric, which is often used in combination with hing in cooking.
Cooking Tips:
Use at the start of cooking any dish that needs a deep allium flavor
Bloom in fat and sauté greens
Make a tadka by tempering some hing in ghee, then drizzle the flavored oil over a dish right before serving