Fenugreek leaf
호로파잎 / 메티
ⓒ
Photo: Yak · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Original file (Wikimedia Commons)
Rub the dried leaves between your palms and you get a sweet aroma like maple syrup. In fact, compounds from this plant are used to make imitation maple syrup flavor. That subtle aroma in Indian butter chicken comes from these leaves.
Flavor and aroma
- It has a bittersweet aroma with notes of celery, fennel, caramel and maple syrup.
Fun facts
- The maple aroma comes from a compound called sotolon, which is also in maple syrup and lovage.
- In 2005 a mysterious maple syrup smell spread over New York City. The cause was a fenugreek seed processing plant in nearby New Jersey.
- The dried leaves, kasuri methi, are named after the Kasur region of Pakistan.
- Sotolon passes through the body unchanged, so eating a lot is said to make your sweat smell of maple.
In the kitchen
Dried leaves (kasuri methi)
- Rub it between your palms over butter chicken, dal makhani (a lentil dish) or curry at the end.
Fresh leaves
- Add it to aloo methi (stir-fried with potatoes), thepla (Indian flatbread) dough, rice and pulao.
Goes well with
ButterCreamTomatoPotatoLentilsCuminCoriander seedTurmeric
Tips
- Add fresh leaves early in cooking and dried leaves at the end. Dried leaves keep about a year in an airtight container. It's a little bitter, so it's often paired with starches like potato and rice.
Season
We're still checking the season. We'll add it once we find a source.
Details
- Korean name
- 호로파잎 / 메티
- English names
- fenugreek leaf
- Scientific name
- Trigonella foenum-graecum
- Family
- Fabaceae
- Genus
- Trigonella
- Other names and notes
- Hindi: methi; dried leaves: kasuri methi
Show sources for this page
References for this herb
- Specialty Produce
- Eat Your Books(Harold McGee 인용)
- Wikipedia
- RoundGlass Living
Name and classification
Photo
Yak · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Original file (Wikimedia Commons)