It is often stated that the quantity of asafoetida (asafœtida / food of the gods / hing / hengu / kayam) actually produced in the world is just a fraction of the asafoetida sold in the market. No doubt the rest is made up of synthetic chemicals and fine clay, which is used as filler. Asafoetida is used in cooking not just for its pungency and mouthwatering quality, but as a natural digestive and also to eliminate gas formation while consuming food such as lentils and potatoes.
If you’re living in a warm country, you can grow your own asafoetida bush/tree. Commercial growers harvest asafoetida by making cuts on the trunk to collect the fluid. For your home use, however, it is enough to simply collect it from the tips of the stems, where it oozes out naturally to solidify into little globules of amber. It can be stored in tiny containers in your kitchen cupboard, and you don’t have to bleed the tree, but just take what it happily gives you! A regular free supply of pure, fragrant, organic asafoetida.
As a bonus, after a rain, it often decks itself out with little white blooms, filling your garden with a wonderful fragrance!
