Aniseed

Saunf, suwa, badi shev or shopa, interchangeable with fennel seeds

It is a golden-brown, tear shaped, aromatic seed with strong sweet licorice flavor. It is believed to have the property to help in digestion and stimulate the appetite. Kashmiri cuisine uses aniseeds. I use it for my masala tea. In India, a spoonful mixture of roasted anise seeds is mixed with roasted dry coconut, rock sugar and poppy seeds are eaten after meals as mouth freshener. Fennel seeds which are slightly fatter versions of aniseeds can easily be used interchangeably. My Kashmiri friend stores it in different forms at her home. The powdered form is often used for makin curries and the seeds are used in the fabulous Kahwa (Kashmiri tea infused with saffron, aniseed, almonds). I will ask her to share her amazing Kahwa recipe in my blog. The other day my Bengali friend told me how he entertained his clients with Kahwa in Kolkata with great trepidations, to his surprise they were so taken in by it that he had to make more and that was the deal maker.

Asafoetida

Hing, perukaya, devils dung

An extremely pungent resin extracted from a plant of the giant fennel family, asafoetida is frequently used in Indian and Middle Eastern cooking. In fact, asafoetida's strong spicy garlicky smell is quite off-putting. Do not attempt to taste it raw as it is not a pleasant experience. But if you can overcome the stink, which disappears in the cooking process, the smallest amount of it transforms vegetable dishes, meat stews and fish. It can be purchased in two forms : Pure brownish pink granules or a yellow white powder where rice and turmeric are powdered along with asafetida. Buy it in powdered form rather than chunks, which are hard to break down. Indians almost always use it whilst cooking dal as it reduces flatulence. I have seen my friend buy it in big chunks and her husband’s duty is to pinch out small parts and make it into even sized small balls so that it can be used later for her rasams and sambars. If this is not love then what is?!