Asafoetida

A spice used in powdered form in savory dishes, especially in vegetarian Hindu cooking, often as a substitute for onions and garlic. Asafoetida is the resin collected from the root of a shrub (Ferulla alliacea) that grows in dry regions of India and in Iran and Afghanistan. Its Hindi name is hing. It has an unpleasant smell (the name means “stinky spice”) when raw, but when added to hot oil at the early stages of cooking, it brings an aromatic oniony depth of flavor to the dish. It is usually sold as a pale yellow powder in small tins in South Asian groceries and some large supermarkets, but it may also come as a lump of hardened resin, which needs to be chopped into small pieces before it’s used.