Hing or heeng is the Hindi word for asafetida (sometimes spelled Asafoetida). It’s also been known as the devil’s dung and stinking gum, as well as asant, food of the gods, jowani badian, hengu, ingu, kayam, and ting.
It is a dark brown, resin-like substance that is derived from the root of ferula. Ferula is a perennial herb related to celery, parsley, and carrots and looks like a giant fennel plant. It’s grown mainly in India but also in Iran and Afghanistan. A gum is extracted from the plant and then processed into a coarsely-textured yellow powder, which is what is known as hing or asafetida.
When raw, hing has a distinctive, sharp, pungent smell that’s often likened to boiled eggs or a mix of onions and sulfer. It becomes extremely fragrant when added to hot oil or the clarified butter ghee to temper a dish. It’s also common to simply add a pinch directly to a dish. Some say that when cooked it has the scent of leeks.
Hing can be bought at any Indian food store in the form of small lumps or as a powder
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