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Stone Ground

Asafoetida

Asafoetida

No Salt, No Sugar, No Preservatives

$12.00 USD
$12.00 USD
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Reach for asafoetida, or hing, when you want the deep, savory backbone of cooked onion and garlic from a single pinch. That is the trick of this spice: bloomed for a few seconds in hot oil, it adds the same rich, savory base you would get from sauteed onion and garlic, which is why cooks who skip those, for diet or for tradition, keep it on hand. Stir a pinch into a pot of beans, a tomato sauce, a vegetable soup, or a lentil dish, and it fills in the savory depth.

Hing is famously pungent raw, almost overpowering, but heat transforms it into a mellow, allium-like richness. It is the dried resin of a Ferula plant from Persia and Afghanistan, used in Indian kitchens for centuries and, long before that, by Roman cooks as a stand-in for the legendary lost herb silphium. Pure resin is too sticky to cook with, so like most hing ours is blended with a carrier. We use rice flour, not wheat. We grind it fresh and pack it to seal in the aroma.

Ground, packed fresh. Made with a rice flour carrier, not wheat. Vegan. No salt or sugar.

Common Questions

I've never cooked with hing. How do I use it?

Use it as a savory base, the way you would onion or garlic. Add a small pinch (an eighth to a quarter teaspoon) to warm oil for a couple of seconds at the start of cooking, then add your beans, vegetables, tomatoes, or lentils. That gentle bloom is what unlocks the flavor.

How do I avoid ruining it?

Two rules: never use it raw, and never let it burn. Raw or scorched, it turns bitter and acrid. Warm oil and a two to three second bloom, then add your other ingredients right away to drop the heat, gives you the sweet, savory result instead.

What does it taste like?

Raw, sharply pungent, which surprises first-time buyers. Cooked, a warm, savory, onion-and-garlic-like depth. It is the background note that makes simple beans, lentils, and vegetables taste complete.

Can it really replace onion and garlic?

As a flavor, yes. Cooked hing brings a savory, allium-like depth, which is why cooks who avoid onion and garlic, whether for dietary reasons or culinary tradition, use a pinch to season stews, bean dishes, and tomato sauces.

Is it made with wheat, and how do I store it?

No wheat. Many commercial hing brands use wheat flour as the carrier; ours uses rice flour instead. For storage, hing off-gasses through ordinary plastic, so keep it in an airtight glass jar or sealed metal tin at room temperature once opened.

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Ingredients:

Asafoetida, and Rice Flour
Asafoetida

Asafoetida

$12.00