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Fenugreek
Methi
Appears in
Published 2008
Prized in India for both its cloverlike leaf and dark yellowish-brown, triangular, stone-hard seeds—that are very bitter when roasted or toasted—I regard the aroma and taste of fenugreek as “perfumed bitterness.” The seed, considered medicinal (some were found in Tutankhamen’s tomb), provides commercial curry powders with that distinctive aroma. Whenever I demonstrate recipes that incorporate fenugreek seed, students say, “Oooh, smells like curry.”
Many sauces in southern India use toasted and oil-roasted seeds (and their ground versions, as in Sambhar masala), to create bitter balance. The eastern regions put the bitterness to work by stir-frying the seeds (they get more bitter when browned in oil). Cooks along the northern regions cherish the grass-green leaves. Because they have a short shelf life, the young leaves are dried and sold in packages labeled kasoori methi. Refer for tips on cleaning and preparing fresh leaves for use. Frozen chopped fenugreek leaves are now available in Indian and Pakistani groceries.
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