What is Hing?

I have been meaning to write this post for a while since so many of my recipes will call for hing, but many people may not know what that is!

What is Hing?

Hing, also called asefoetida, is a spice that is used to replace garlic and onions in Vedic cooking.  It is made from the dried sap of a root of a plant commonly found in Afghanistan and India.  It comes in powder form, and ranges from white to light brown (depending on what it is cut with), and has a very strong, pungent onion aroma before it is cooked.  During cooking, the flavor becomes smooth and mellow and is reminiscent of a mild garlic, leek, and onion flavor combined.  Yet, it is also distinct from those flavors.

Dried hing (asefoetida) spice.

Why do we use Hing in our cooking?

 We use it in Vedic cooking when preparing foods that are offerable to Krishna (or God) or used for Ayurvedic or medicinal reasons.  For more information on why some types of Vedic cooking calls for no garlic or onion, see my post here.  Hing also has the benefit of being easy to use (no chopping!), not making us weep, like when cutting onions, or leaving us with bad breath, as with garlic.  We recommend buying Unle Harry's brand hing because it is the highest quality since it is cut with coriander instead of wheat flour.  You can buy it online.  Otherwise, look at health food, indian, or asian markets for hing or asefoetida (or order online!).

Uncle Harry's brand hing, highly recommended!

What can you use if you don't have hing?

Clearly, if you are not practicing bhakti yoga (or making food offerable to God), you don't need to worry about using hing or not. Because hing is meant to replace garlic and onions, you may simply use garlic and onions in any form appropriate to the dish, such as freshly chopped, sauteed, or in powder form, to replace hing.  It's quite easy! Since hing is so strong, you don't need much so when you are using garlic or onion powder to replace it, you will need more of it.  For example, if a recipe calls for 1/2 tsp of hing you can use 1 tsp of garlic powder and 1 tsp of onion powder (for a total of 2 tsp) as a replacement.  If you are using fresh onion and garlic do 2 cloves garlic and 1/2 of a medium onion to replace 1/2 tsp hing.