Dat Indian Food Smell Doe

I just don't understand some people.  I've heard so many people complain that their desi neighbors cook and thus their homes "always smell like Indian food." And?  Is this a problem somehow?  Indian food smells amazing!  It is the olfactory equivalent of attaining nirvana by binge watching all the cat videos on youtube in one sitting.  That smell comes mostly from a funny little rectangular seed called fenugreek (trigonella foenum-graecum).

Fenugreek, interestingly, is a plant whose entirety is eaten.  The seeds, sprouts and even leaves are all used in some way or another.  Even cilantro can't claim that kind of hat trick.  The rectangular seeds are rock hard and need to be ground down for consumption.  They're not turmeric hard, but you can't crack them with your teeth like you can with most seeds.

Never eat the seeds whole, kids.

The name "fenugreek" comes from the Latin words "foenum graecum" meaning "Greek hay" since the Greeks were using the plant as hay to feed their cattle and sheep.  They weren't the first as the plant gets mentioned all the way back to ancient Egypt.  Cultures that ate beef or veal adopted it and so it became popular in India and Thailand, but also it was well liked in Moorish countries.

The flavor of Fenugreek is actually a bit of a letdown.  While the wonderful scent of caramel and walnuts hits your nose, what hits your tongue is more like celery and fennel with perhaps some nuttiness in the background.  It's sort of like that one friend who still thinks it's funny to put a small present inside a huge box.  Since the flavors aren't terribly strong, it's actually hard to notice when used in recipes, so put a little in to make all your guests drool at the smell.   Just make sure the rest of the dish tastes good.

I had a hard time finding a recipe for Fenugreek, mostly because it's not prominent in any of the recipes I use.  That said, I haven't tried this particular one out but it sounds good to me.  Please forgive me if it's not great.

If you've ever wondered what that certain something is that your Indian recipes need to give them that signature taste and smell, look no further.  From what little research I've done, it seems that the leaves are actually much more popular than the seeds, but that's an article for a later date.