In game, losses do happen .. ..yet fans find it so difficult to accept that CSK too could crash out of IPL and are so angry ! நண்பர் ஒருவர் கோவத்தில் உதித்த பதிவு .. 'இவர்கள் பழைய பெருங்காய டப்பா'
Ferula (from
Latin ferula, 'rod') is a genus of about 170 species of flowering plants in the
family Apiaceae, native to the Mediterranean region east to central Asia,
mostly growing in arid climates. They are herbaceous perennial plants growing
to 1–4 m tall, with stout, hollow, somewhat succulent stems. The leaves are
tripinnate or even more finely divided, with a stout basal sheath clasping the
stem. The flowers are usually yellow, rarely white, produced in large umbels.
.. .. and we use its product every day
– remember your sweet-smelling Pongal, sambar, rasam, pickles and various condiments ! .. .. can you connect, what
? .. more – we buy this commodity certainly everymonth in
our households – may be 100 gms could cost close to Rs.1000 depending on the
quality and brand !
Not the plant but this
spice is used as a digestive aid, in food as a condiment, and in pickling. It
plays a critical flavoring role in Indian vegetarian cuisine by acting as a
savory enhancer. Used along with
turmeric, it is a standard component of lentil curries, such as dal, chickpea
curries, and vegetable dishes, especially those based on potato and
cauliflower. Asafoetida (பெருங்காயம்)
is used in vegetarian Indian especially South Indian cuisine where it enhances the
flavor of numerous dishes, where it is quickly heated in hot oil before
sprinkling on the food. It is sometimes used to harmonise sweet, sour,
salty, and spicy components in food. The spice is added to the food at the time
of tempering. Sometimes dried and ground asafoetida (in small quantities) can
be mixed with salt and eaten with raw salad.
In its pure
form, it is sold in the form of chunks of resin, small quantities of which are
scraped off for use. The odor of the pure resin is so strong that the pungent
smell can impact other spices stored
nearby if it is not stored in an airtight container.
வெத்து வேட்டாய் தோற்று பயனில்லாதவர்களை - `காலிப் பெருங்காய டப்பா’ என சொல்ல கேட்டிருப்போம். அதாவது ஒரு காலத்தில் சிறப்பாய் இருந்து, இன்று பலராலும் ஏளனப்படுத்தப்படுவது ! பெருங்காயம் சாதாரணமானது அல்ல. சமையலுக்கு மணமூட்டும். அரிய மருத்துப்பலன்களை கொண்டதாக கருதப்படுகிறது. . பெருங்காயத்தின் மணத்தை முகர்ந்து முகம் சுளித்த அமெரிக்கர்கள், ஒரு காலத்தில் அதை ஏளனப்படுத்தினார்களாம். இப்போது உலகத்தை நம்மைப் பயமுறுத்திவரும் கொரோனா போல, சென்ற நூற்றாண்டில் ஸ்பானிஷ் ஃப்ளூ (Spanish Flu) பல்லாயிரம் பேரைக் கொன்று குவித்த போது பெருங்காயம் மருந்தாக பயன்பட்டதாம்.
The English name is derived from asa, a latinised form of Persian azā, meaning "resin", and Latin foetidus meaning "smelling, fetid", which refers to its strong sulfurous odour. It is called perunkayam (பெருங்காயம்) in Tamil, hinga (हिंग) in Marathi, hengu (ହେଙ୍ଗୁ) in Odia, hiṅ (হিং) in Bengali, ingu (ಇಂಗು) in Kannada, kāyaṃ (കായം) in Malayalam (it was attested as raamadom in the 14th century), inguva (ఇంగువ) in Telugu, and hīng (हींग) in Hindi. Its pungent odour has resulted in its being known by some unpleasant names too. In English it is sometimes called Devil's dung, and equivalent names can be found in most Germanic languages .
Asafoetida is the
dried latex (gum oleoresin) exuded from the rhizome or tap root of several
species of Ferula (F. foetida and F. assa-foetida). They are part of the celery family,
Umbelliferae. Notably, asafoetida is thought to be in the same genus as
silphium, a North African plant now believed to be extinct, and was used as a
cheaper substitute for that historically important herb from classical
antiquity. The species are native to the deserts of
Iran and mountains of Afghanistan where substantial amounts are grown. Asafoetida was familiar in the early
Mediterranean, having come by land across Iran. It entered Europe from an
expedition of Alexander the Great, who, after returning from a trip to
northeastern ancient Persia, thought they had found a plant almost identical to
the famed silphium of Cyrene in North Africa—though less tasty. After the Roman Empire fell, until the 16th
century, asafoetida was rare in Europe, and if ever encountered, it was viewed
as a medicine.
Hing or
asafoetida is a key part of the cuisine in many parts of India, but so far, it
has had to be imported from countries like Afghanistan, Iran and Uzbekistan,
because it was never grown locally. (news to me – all along I thought it comes
from southern village !!) But now, scientists from the Centre
for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) have planted hing saplings in
Himachal Pradesh, in the hope that cultivation of the spice will become a
common practice in India.
Even though India consumes
40 per cent of the world’s hing, no attempt had been made to start its
cultivation locally. However, since 2016, Sanjay Kumar, director of
CSIR-Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology (IHBT) in Palampur, has been
working on growing asafoetida locally. “India imports nearly 1,200 tonnes of
ferula asafoetida, amounting to nearly US $130 million every year,” Kumar told
The Print. “That is a huge amount to pay for just one spice.” Moreover, there
have been many times when war and strife has prevented Iran and Afghanistan
from exporting hing. “Hing from Kabul has become part of the tradition, no one
thought about cultivating it in India. Several people in India claim that we do
have ferula species in India — but those are not the real varieties. In the
last 30 years, no one has imported hing seeds into this country,” Kumar said.
Himachal’s Lahaul and
Spiti district is also a cold desert with climate similar to Afghanistan,
making it ideal for hing cultivation. The CSIR team has started the project on
about 500 hectares of land, but it will take four to five years before the
homegrown hing achieves the same quality as what is imported from Iran or
Afghanistan. If the pilot is successful, the scientists want to expand the
cultivation to Ladakh, parts of Uttarakhand and Arunachal Pradesh. Kumar and
his fellow scientists are working closely with government officials of Himachal
Pradesh to train the local farmers about the correct way to cultivate the
spice.
“There is no scientific
literature available on how to grow asafoetida. So, we developed the
agrotechnology of this plant — we know precisely how this plant is germinated,
and how it should be transplanted. We conducted training programmes for the
farmers and state officials,” Sanjay Kumar said. He explained that the plant
can only be seen above the surface for one or two months, after which it gets
buried under snowfall, and goes into a state of hibernation. “At this point,
from past experience with other types of cultivation, we know that farmers are
likely to become impatient. They might start digging to check, but once the
plant gets disturbed, the quality of the hing will not be good. We have to make
sure farmers understand this,” he said.
Apart from this, farmers
are also being trained on how to irrigate the plant, which mostly survives on
the moisture from melting snow. Farmers are also being discouraged from using
chemical fertilisers, and being asked to only work with animal dung. Using
funds provided by the state government to the tune of Rs 4 crore, IHBT has set
up a tissue culture lab that can quickly grow lakhs of saplings. This way,
eventually, India will not even need to import asafoetida seeds from other
countries, Kumar said.
Laljee
Godhoo & Co. opened its doors to the Southern Markets by establishing its
First branch in Nagapattnam (currently non-operational), followed by Kumbakonam
and then Chennai. The years 1976-1978
brought about some crucial changes for the company. With the evolution of a
busier lifestyle where women had no time to dry and grind the lumps to get the
perfect powdered texture, we wished to provide our customers with just the
right product which would provide the same taste without effort or delay. With the introduction of Compounded
Asafoetida in Powder Form in 1978 and with this, LG also introduced the 50gm
bottle of Compounded Asafoetida which is seen in almost every household today.
Interesting !
21.10.2020.
