If you or someone you know has the unpleasant problem of reeking onions and garlic after a meal, Cooking and Blogging is here to help.  I personally love to use both of those bulbs, but I’ve have had to lay off because of the stinking and burping effects it leaves on some of those I’m feeding.  Is there a way to get the same taste with out the nasty side effects?

YES WE CAN.

It comes in the form of an Indian spice called asafoetida (pronounced as-fi-TI-da) powder or hing.  I was first introduced to it when learning some tricks from ayurvedic cooking by my friend John Joseph.  The sage-old, Indian diet is devised for optimum health of people and the planet and is one of the tastier, good-for-you eating philosophies I’ve tried.  That is due to the well-crafted use of spices, and asafoetida is one of the star players.  It is used instead of onions and garlic because it leaves no aftertaste or smell on the palette.  However, it does stink before it’s cooked, but don’t let that alarm you, just keep it tightly sealed when storing.  You can pretty much cook with it the same way as garlic or onion - when you start a sauce or stew you can saute it in a little oil then build your culinary masterpiece from there.  Basically, anytime a recipe calls for chopped onion or garlic use the same amount of the powder, or maybe a little less until you get used to it.

If you can’t find hing at your grocery or health food store you can buy it online.  I got mine from kalyx.  They seemed to be the cheapest at $5.21 per bottle, a small price to pay for a huge improvement in the smell of your breath!

(Asafoetida is the white powder toward the top left of the picture above)