- Used plant part
The brownish-yellow seeds of rhombic shape (about 3 mm). Indians also like the fresh leaves, which are eaten as a very tasty vegetable and prepared like spinach, or dried and used as a flavouring. The leaves of a related plant (blue fenugreek), which appear in Central European cooking, can be substituted by fenugreek leaves.
- Plant family
Fabaceae (bean family).
- Sensory quality
Bitter and aromatic. The leaves’ fragrance slightly resembles lovage.
- Main constituents
Fenugreek seeds contains only minute quantities of an essential oil. In the essential oil, 40 different compounds were found, furthermore, n-alkanes, sesquiterpenes, alkanoles and lactones were reported.
 | | Fenugreek flower | |
 | | Fenugreek (plants with ripening fruits). Note the long pods! | |
The dominant aroma component in fenugreek seeds is a hemiterpenoid γ-lactone, sotolone (3-hydroxy-4,5-dimethyl-2(5H)-furanone), which is contained in concentrations up to 25 ppm. It supposedly forms by oxidative deamination of 4-hydroxy-isoleucine. Sotolone has a spicy flavour and was also found a key flavour in fermented protein seasonings, e.g., Maggi sauce. There is chemical similarity between sotolone and the phthalides responsible for the quite similar flavour of lovage leaves. (ACS Symposium Series, 660, 1997)
Toasted fenugreek seeds owe their altered, more nutty flavour to another type of heterocyclic compounds, the so-called pyrazines. See cumin for further information.
Fenugreek leaves were found to contain small amounts of sesquiterpenes (cadinene, α-cadinol, γ-eudesmol and α-bisabolol). (Journal of Essential Oil Research, 16, 356, 2004)
Among the non-volatile components of fenugreek seeds, the furostanol glycosides are probably responsible for the bitter taste; among the several more compounds yet identified, steroles and diosgenin derivatives (of potential interest for the pharmaceutical industry) and trigonellin (N-methyl-pyridinium-3-carboxylate, 0.4%) are most worth noting.
- Origin
From the Mediterranean to China.
- Etymology
Trigonella is a latinized diminutive of Greek trigonon [τρίγωνον] “triangle”, composed of treis [τρεῖς] “three” and gony [γόνυ] “knee, angle” (see also Vietnamese coriander); it probably refers to the triangular shape of the flowers. Cf. also the Yiddish term for the genus, draykantl [דרײַקאַנטל] “three-edged”.
The Latin species name foenum graecum means “Greek hay”, referring to both the intensive hay fragrance of dried fenugreek herb and its Eastern Mediterranean origin. That Latin name still lives in many European tongues, e.g., English fenugreek or Dutch fenegriek. Note that in some of these languages, the name for fennel may look similar, because “fennel” also derives from Latin foenum “hay”.
Other languages use adaptions of foenum graecum, like Slovak grško seno “Greek hay” and Estonian kreeka lambalääts “Greek clover”. Despite the strong association with Greece, the classical Greek name of fenugreek, telis [τῆλις], has vanished without a trace from modern languages (maybe with the exception of Bulgarian tilchets [тилчец]?).
Several Germanic languages have closely related names, e.g., German Bockshornklee, Swedish bockhornsklöver and Norwegian bukkehornkløver “buck’s horn’s clover”. These names refer to the long, pointed fruits (legumes) which may be compared with a buck’s horn. Similar names meaning “buck’s horn” are also given to the large pods of St. John’s Bread (Carob) regionally.
Spanish alholva and Portuguese alforba are, like many other plant names used on the Iberic peninsula (see also capers), borrowed from Arabic: al-hulbah [الحلبه] “the fenugreek”. The Arabic name hulbah [حلبه] is probably a native Semitic name deriving from the same root ḤLB “milk” that also lies behind the name of mahaleb cherry. In that case, that name would have been motivated by the strong galactagogue action of fenugreek which is widely used in folk medicine. The Hebrew cognate is hilbeh [חילבה], which appears in Yiddish as khilbe [כילבע].
Arabic hulbah is also the source for several names of fenugreek in Far Eastern languages: Malayalam uluva [ഉലുവ], Sinhala uluhal [උලුහාල්], Malay halba, Indonesian klabat, Chinese hu lu ba [葫蘆巴, 胡芦巴], Vietnamese ho lo ba [hồ lô ba] and Korean horopa [호로파].
Middle Persian sambalidag is the predecessor of modern Farsi shanbalileh [شنبلیله] and borrowed to Russian as shambala [шамбала]. Akkadian šambaliltu belongs to the same group. Rather similar names are found in the Baltic countries (Finnish sarviapila, Latvian sierāboliņš), yet I do not understand the connection (if there is any). There is also a puzzling close match between Sumerian sullim [𒌑𒂙𒊬] and Georgian solinji [სოლინჯი], with no similar forms in adjacent languages.
- Selected Links
Indian Spices: Fenugreek (indianetzone.com) A Pinch of Fenugreek (www.apinchof.com) The Epicentre: Fenugreek Medical Spice Exhibit: Fenugreek Nature One Health: Fenugreek Pflanzen des Capitulare de Villis: Bockshornklee (biozac.de) Saskatchewan Herb and Spice Association: Fenugreek Recipe: Khoreshte Ghorme Sabzi [خورشت قرمه سبزی] (www.farhangsara.com) Recipe: Ghorme Sabzi [قرمه سبزی] (www.persia.org) Recipe: Aloo methi [आलू मेथी] (Potatoes with fresh fenugreek leaves) (www.veggievilla.com) Recipe: Aloo methi [आलू मेथी] (Potatoes with dried fenugreek leaves) (www.recipecottage.com)
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| Fenugreek plants |
Fenugreek is an ancient spice, although currently not much known in the West; it has been grown as a medicinal plant in Europe during the Middle Ages (see also
lovage). Today, many people in Western countries seem to dislike its flavour, which they claim to be “goaty” and bitter. It is now mostly used in the West, Central and South Asia; in India, it is popular for pickles. Dry toasting can enhance the flavour and reduce the bitterness, provided care is taken not to overheat the seeds.
Small amounts of fenugreek should be found in any good curry powders (see curry leaves). Fenugreek is also popular in the South of India and appears in the ubiquitous Tamil spice mixture sambar podi (see cumin). Lastly, the bitter-aromatic seeds constitute an essential part of the Bengali “five spice” mixture panch phoron (see nigella).
Fenugreek leaves are an important spice from Western Asia to Northern India; for example, dried fenugreek leaves appear in the spice mixture from Georgia, khmeli-suneli (see marjoram). In Northern India, they are sometimes found in the typical yeast bread naan (then called methi naan [मेथी नान]); in South India, dried fenugreek leaves are often used as a flavouring for potato curries.
Iran has a particularly rich tradition in cooking with fenugreek leaves; among the most famous examples is ghorme sabzi [قرمه سبزی], a thick sauce made from fresh or dried vegetables (leek, onion, occasionally beans) and herbs (fenugreek, parsley, mint; some recipes also call for chives and coriander leaves). The sauce acquires a characteristic acidic flavour by addition of dried limes. Khoreshte ghorme sabzi [خورشت قرمه سبزی] is mutton slowly stewed in this aromatic herb sauce.
Fenugreek is also known in Northern and Eastern Africa; Egyptian papyri mention the plant as one necessary for the mummification process. The Ethiopian spice mixture berbere (see long pepper) contains small amounts of fenugreek.
The wide-spread popularity of this bitter spice may surprise Western cooks; although bitterness arises unpleasant associations in most people, culinary use of bitter taste is a theme found all over the globe. Of the spices discussed on this page, many have a more or less significantly bitter character. See zedoary for more on that topic.
CHICKEN VINDALOO
Ingredients:
2 t Cumin seeds, whole
1 t Peppercorns, black
1 t Cardamom seeds
Cinnamon
-(3 in stick)
1 1/2 t Black mustard seeds,
-whole
1 t Fenugreek seeds,
-whole
5 T White wine vinegar
1 t Salt
1 t Cayenne pepper
1 t Brown sugar, light
10 T Vegetable oil
2 lg Yellow onions,
-peeled and cut
-into half-rings
6 T Water
Ginger, fresh
-(1-inch cube),
-peeled and
-coarsely chopped
10 Garlic cloves,
-peeled and coarsely
-chopped (or less)
1 T Coriander seeds, ground
1/2 t Turmeric, ground
2 lb Chicken breast
-(boneless), cut into
-bite-sized pieces
8 oz Tomato sauce
1/2 lb New potatoes,
-peeled and quartered
Directions:
Grind cumin seeds, black pepper, cardamom seeds, cinnamon, black mustard
seeds and fenugreek seeds together in a spice grinder. In a small bowl,
combine ground spices, vinegar, salt, cayenne pepper and brown sugar. Set
aside.
Heat oil in large saucepan over medium heat. Fry onions, stirring
frequently, until they are a rich, dark brown. Remove onions with a slotted
spoon and put them in a blender. Turn off the heat, but do not discard the
oil. Add about 3 T water (or more if necessary) to the onions and blend
until you have a smooth paste. Add this onion paste to the spices in the
bowl. This mixture is the vindaloo paste.
Put the ginger and garlic in a blender. Add about 3 T water and blend
until you have a smooth paste.
Heat the remaining oil in the saucepan over medium heat. When hot, add the
ginger, garlic paste. Stir until the paste browns slightly. Add the
coriander and turmeric. Stir a few seconds. Add the chicken, a little at
a time, and brown lightly.
Add the vindaloo paste, tomato sauce and potatoes to the chicken in the
saucepan. Stir and bring to a slight boil. Cover the saucepan, reduce
heat to low and simmer for about an hour, or until potatoes are tender.
Serve over rice.
Yield: serves 4-6.
* Don't undercook the onions. They should be cooked until dark brown. If
the onion paste turns out gray rather than brown, then the onions were not
cooked enough.
* This dish is very, very hot. It may not seem so at first, but the
spices have a cumulative effect that builds up over the course of the meal.
FENUGREEK
Pisa
chin chin
Heidi
holly and kelly
LITTLE HEIDI
PEONY
Tristan and Kelly
