Urban Platter Hing Powder, 50g

Urban Platter Hing Powder, 50g (Hing, Compounded Asafoetida, Spice, Savoury & Umami Flavour, Add to dals, Vegetables, Gravies)

Asafoetida

100% pure, genuinely strong and pungent Asafoetida or Hing powder, made from finest quality of Hing imported from Afghanistan. This is a gum from a variety of giant fennel, which naturally has a horrid and offensive smell, rather like rotting garlic, as in foetid. Yet it is considered the most blessed of flavourings amongst Jain and Brahmin Indians, who eat neither garlic or onions, for it adds a very similar savouriness.

In India it is grown in Kashmir and some parts of Punjab. The major supply of asafoetida to India is from Afghanistan and Iran. There are two main varieties of asafoetida ie. Hing Kabuli Sufaid (Milky white asafoetida) and Hing Lal (Red asafoetida). Asafoetida is acrid and bitter and emits a strong disagreeable pungent odour due to the presence of sulphur compounds therein. The white or pale variety is water soluble, whereas the dark or black variety is oil soluble. Since pure asafoetida is not preferred due to its strong flavour, it is mixed with starch and gum and sold as compounded asafoetida mostly in briquette form. It is also available in free-flowing (Powder form) or tablet forms.

Store it:

Once a container of asafoetida has been opened it’s best to close it as soon as possible. Then, keep it hermetically sealed in an airtight plastic container, or double-wrapped – at least. If the aroma escapes you will awake to find a house reeking of yesterday’s garlic.

Asafoetida’s degree of pungency is directly proportionate to its freshness, as its volatile oil escapes easily and the essence then fades. Take great note of the storage advice and replace it often if you use it regularly.

Cook it:

Use in smaller amounts. You will quickly discover if you like it more or less and there is no harm done if you use too much; longer cooking mellows it. But do use enough to allow it to be recognised and to contribute subtly to the cooked dish.

Asafoetida works best when first fired for five to ten seconds in hot oil until its pungency is dramatically obvious- make sure you have the extractor on or the window open. Then quickly add other ingredients to stop it from burning.

Even such small amounts of asafoetida give a comforting onion-garlic flavour, which is especially good in vegetarian dishes of all kinds as well as in meat curries and stews – almost anywhere you would use onion and/or garlic but don’t wish to do so.

Uses:

Asafoetida is extensively used for flavouring curries, sauces, and pickles. It is also used in medicines because of its antibiotic properties.

1. Anti-Ageing Benefits:

This herbal spice makes an amazing anti-ageing agent. It offers the goodness of reducing wrinkles, fine lines and age spots on the face. Asafoetida can be mixed with rose water and fuller’s earth to form an effective anti-wrinkle face mask.

2. Skin Whitening Benefits:

Asafoetida can be used as a whitening agent that promotes fairness and demotes dark spots, acne marks and oiliness. It naturally hampers the production of Tyrosine in the skin. Tyrosine promotes the production of melanin in human skin that leads to skin darkening, premature ageing and dullness. Asafoetida keeps a check on the production of tyrosine. Thus, you can flaunt blemish-free and radiant, younger skin with the use of Asafoetida face masks largely.

4. Radiance Promoting Benefits:

Asafoetida works like a radiance enhancer that imparts a never-ending glow to the skin. It increases the supply of oxygen to facial tissues, which makes them lively and plump. You get pink-tinted fair skin that glows beautifully well. The best side-benefit of this radiance promotion benefit is the removal of ugly under-eye dark circles completely.

5. Anti-Dryness Benefits:

Pollution and stress leave the skin and hair dry and damaged. Asafoetida works like a dryness-repairing agent that offers smooth and moist skin. It can erase all the visible signs of skin dryness like dullness, peeling, cracking, freckles, wrinkles and pigmentation.

How To Make Dryness Repellent Face Mask?

1. Simply mix milk and rose water in a bowl and add honey to it.
2. Add Asafoetida to the mixture and beat well.
3. Store this flowing face pack in a refrigerator to increase its shelf life.
4. Apply this face mask regularly to reverse all the signs of skin dryness.

6. Hair Conditioning Benefits:

Asafoetida can also be used to make hair conditioning masks. It effectively works to trap moisture in the scalp. This amazing benefit makes it a deep moisturising product that can control the problem of hair dryness and frizz to a large extent.

How To Make A Conditioning Hair Mask?

1. Mix yoghurt, green tea extract and almond oil in a bowl.
2. Add Asafoetida to the mixture and beat well.
3. Apply on hair from the roots to tips and leave to dry for 1 hour.
4. Wash with lukewarm water.

This amazing hair mask offers the goodness of improving scalp health against dryness. It makes hair smooth, shiny and stronger too.

7. Digestive Benefits:

The current lifestyle, devoid of much movement and physical work, leads to digestive problems easily. Asafoetida is a natural armour for preventing and curing such digestive issues easily. It flushes out the toxins from the human digestive tract. It is a natural foe to such toxins that slow down the process of digestion in humans. Thus, it helps in easing the process of proper digestion by restoring the normal PH level of the stomach. It successfully offers freedom from the most common problem of improper digestion i.e constipation. Maybe, the pungent smell of Asafoetida works in favour of its worms repelling benefit. It should be taken at night with warm water. It flushes out the intestinal worms when taken regularly with Ajwain.

8. Mood Elevating Benefits:

Asafoetida is also known for its mood-elevating benefits. This is not a drug, but a herbal formula that triggers the production of happiness hormones and hampers the production of stress. This is a powerful stress-managing spice that should be used with caution. Do not incline to its use if you have a declared history of mania.

9. Antidepressive Benefits:

Asafoetida has historically been used as an antidepressant medicine. Its ability to induce happiness and decrease the thoughts of failure and negativity makes it a powerful natural anti-depressant too.

10. Increases Metabolism:

This amazing health benefit aids multiple health issues. Asafoetida increases the body’s metabolism largely. This improves digestion. Thus, it triggers fat metabolism too. This hampers the circulation of bad cholesterol in the human blood. Thus, Asafoetida keeps you safe from all the heart problems resulting from cholesterol formation and accumulation.