What guna is asafoetida (hing)?

[Guest guest]

Asafoetida or 'hing' is widely used as a subsitute for onion and/or garlic.

What guna or mode/nature does this substance come under?

 

Surely it is of tamo-guna owing to its vile odour and taste?

 

Please enlighten me.

 

Prahlad

[Guest guest]

asafoetida only smells foul before you fry it. after, it smells quite pleasant. it helps you digest the fats in the food and you need but a knife-point on a whole pot of veggies.

Odour alone is no criterion, since it is part of Krsna's kitchen. taste is rajas and action in the mode of goodness - as far as I know. don't take my word for it.

VdK.

[Gauracandra 1]

I don't have anything against it. However, I believe asafoetida is made from tree sap. Now this doesn't bother me. But I've been told there is some scriptural statement saying that in Kali Yuga the sins of the world reside in certain areas, one of which is in the sap of trees. What that means I don't know. So if you eat tree sap you are injesting sins. Doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me, and I haven't seen the statement specificially, plus it makes eating pancakes a bit difficult. How can maple syrup be bad?

[Guest guest]

I heard Srila Bhakti Siddanta Saraswati had it with every meal.

Whatever that means.

[Guest guest]

Because of affection for the demons, Visvarupa secretly supplied them the remnants of yajna. When Indra learned about this, he beheaded Visvarupa, but he later regretted killing Visvarupa because Visvarupa was a brahmana. Although competent to neutralize the sinful reactions for killing a brahmana, Indra did not do so. Instead he accepted the reactions. Later, he distributed these reactions among the land, water, trees and women in general. Since the land accepted one fourth of the sinful reactions, a portion of the land turned into desert. The trees were also given one fourth of the sinful reactions, and therefore they drip sap, which is prohibited for drinking. Because women accepted one fourth of the sinful reactions, they are untouchable during their menstrual period. Since water was also infested with sinful reactions, when bubbles appear in water it cannot be used for any purpose.

 

SB 6.9 Summary

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

 

Because women accepted one fourth of the sinful reactions, they are untouchable during their menstrual period.

 

 

 

What was the reward Indra gave when women accepted Indra's Sins /images/graemlins/confused.gif

[Guest guest]

 

Because women accepted one fourth of the sinful reactions, they are untouchable during their menstrual period.

 

 

What was the reward Indra gave when women accepted Indra's Sins

 

--

Nothing, if I remember well. Indra is not known for his generosity, it seems.

VdK.

[Guest guest]

when bubbles appear in water it cannot be used for any purpose

---

 

I dont understand this part at all

does that mean we cant boil water?

whatr about when you are simmering water to cook? it has bubbles so we cant use it?

 

does this mean we cant cook with water at all? will I have to cook everything with milk instead??

 

aggggggghhhhhh!!!!!!! this is confusing me!!

 

[Kulapavana 0]

the bubbles here refer to fermentation and other gas bubbles present in stagnant water. essentially the "reaction" refers to water "going bad" or spoiling

[Guest guest]

Tree sap is by no means a pure substance, particularly since it has a result of a curse.

Surely this renders hing unedible by vaishnavas?

[Airicky 0]

Srila Prabhupada who is a life long Vaisnava and pure devotee has instructed us to use hing in cooking so it is very much edible for Vaisnava.

 

The only day not to use hing is on ekadasi if the hing is mixed with flour which is usually is when processed.

[Guest guest]

Powdered hing may have grain in it.

Raw hing is direct from resin therefore has no grain mixed with it.

[Gauracandra 1]

Asafoetida

Ferula assafoetida

Fam: Umbelliferae

 

Asafoetida gets its name from the Persian aza, for mastic or resin, and the Latin foetidus, for stinking. It is a gum that is from the sap of the roots and stem of the ferula species, a giant fennel that exudes a vile odour. Early records mention that Alexander the Great carried this “stink finger” west in 4 BC. It was used as a spice in ancient Rome, and although not native to India, it has been used in Indian medicine and cookery for ages. It was believed that asafoetida enhanced singers voices. In the days of the Mughal aristocracy, the court singers if Agra and Delhi would eat a spoonful of asafoetida with butter and practice on the banks of the river Yamuna.

 

 

Spice Description

Asafoetida is a hard resinous gum, grayish-white when fresh, darkening with age to yellow, red and eventually brown. It is sold in blocks or pieces as a gum and more frequently as a fine yellow powder, sometimes crystalline or granulated.

Bouquet: a pungent smell of rotting onions or sulfur. The smell dissipates with cooking.

Flavour: on its own, extremely unpleasant, like concentrated rotten garlic. When cooked, it adds an onion-like flavour.

Hotness Scale: 0

 

Preparation and Storage

It is vital to keep asafoetida in airtight containers as its sulfurous odour will effect other foods and spices. It is most commonly available as a powder or granules that can be added directly to the cooking pot. It is also sold in lumps that need to be crushed before using. This is a very powerful spice and even in its ground state lasts well over a year if stored properly, away from light and air...

 

Culinary Uses

Use in minute quantities, adding directly to cooking liquid, frying in oil, or steeping in water. Asafoetida is used mostly in Indian vegetarian cooking, in which the strong onion-garlic flavour enhances many dishes, especially those of Brahmin and Jain castes where onions and garlic are prohibited. It is used mostly in south and west India, though it does not grow there. It is used in many lentil dishes (often to prevent flatulence), vegetarian soups and pickles. It is also suited to many fish dishes and some pappadums are seasoned with asafoetida.

 

 

Attributed Medicinal Properties

Asafoetida is known as an antidote for flatulence and is also prescribed for respiratory conditions like asthma, bronchitis and whooping cough. Its vile smell has led to many unusual medical claims, mostly stemming from the belief that it’s foetid odour would act as a deterrent to germs. In several European countries a small piece of the resin would be tied on a string and hung around childrens necks to protect from disease. The shock of the sulfurous smell was once thought to calm hysteria and in the days of the American Wild West it was included in a mixture with other strong spices as a cure for alcoholism.

 

Plant Description and Cultivation

Asafoetida is grown chiefly in Iran and Afghanistan from where it is exported to the rest of the world. In India it is cultivated in Kashmir. It is a perennial fennel that grows wild to 3.6 metres (12 ft) high, in large natural forests where little else grows. It bears fine leaves and yellow flowers. The roots are thick and pulpy and also yield a similar resin to that of the stems. All parts of the plant have the distinctive fetid smell. In March and April, just before flowering, the stalks are cut close to the root. A milky liquid oozes out, which dries to form a resin. This is collected and a fresh cut is made. This procedure lasts for about three months from the first incision, by which time the plant has yielded up to two pounds of resin and the root has dried up.

 

 

Other Names

Asafetida, Assafetida, Assafoetida, Devil’s Dung, Devil’s Durt, Food of the Gods (Persian), Laser (Roman), Stinking Gum

French: assa foetida, ferulr perisque

German: Asafotida, Stinkender Asant

Italian: assafetida

Spanish: asafetida

Afghan: kama-i-anguza

Indian: hing, hingu, heeng

Tamil: perunkaya