Fenugreek - The Overlooked but Highly Potent Herb
April 6, 2022 | Written by Leticia Padmasri
Our kitchen can be a powerhouse of herbs and spices that can efficiently aid our health when used daily.
Fenugreek is one of these herbs but it is often overlooked! Let’s take a look at fenugreek's qualities and benefits.
Fenugreek and Ayurveda
Fenugreek is one of the oldest medicinal plants. Its seeds are a potent ayurvedic herb easily found in most Indian kitchens.
In addition to adding delicious flavor to food, if used diligently, this herb can promise good digestive fire and an improved immune system. It promotes longevity, strengthens the nerves, and it is good for allergies and arthritis. It is excellent for lactating mothers, aiding in milk production. Also, it’s a wonderful herb to be taken post-partum to clean the uterus and promote healthy bowel movements.
It is used to treat many conditions such as:
Sluggish and gaseous digestion
Constipation
High cholesterol
Diabetes
Obesity
Fenugreek Qualities
Understanding its qualities will guide you in deciding when to use it.
Fenugreek’s taste (rasa) is pungent, bitter, and sweet. Fenugreek’s energy (virya) is hot, and its post-digestive effect (vipaka) is pungent, adding to the heating effects.
Following the fundamental principle of Ayurveda, “like attracts like and the opposite balances”, we can understand who will benefit the most from using this spice and at what times.
Fenugreek’s qualities make it an excellent herb for people with Vata and Kapha constitution, or for when we are experiencing imbalances from excess earth and air nature.
Kapha and Vata-dominated people tend to have low digestive fire (agni) in their bodies, so there is a tendency for weaker digestion and immunity, and issues related to cold, cough, and flu. Fenugreek tea is great for generating heat in the body, supporting agni, giving vitality to the body, and boosting immunity.
For those with a strong Pitta constitution or when you are too heated or the weather is hot, you may want to reduce your fenugreek intake. It is a great spice for the cold weather. Its hot energy will strengthen the agni and help to counter the common seasonal complaints of fall, winter, and early spring.
Fenugreek is available as a powder or as whole seeds, which are hard and cube-shaped.
I only get the seeds and make them into powder for maximum freshness. It is so aromatic!
How can you get more fenugreek in your diet?
I love to sauté the seeds in ghee and add them to dals, greens, and veggies. Try it the next time you are cooking! You can also enjoy the tea by steeping 1 teaspoon of the seeds in a cup of hot water for 10 minutes.
Fenugreek greatly enhances flavor. It combines well with fennel, cumin, coriander, turmeric, and ginger. A famous spice combination with fenugreek is panchpuran. It is a blend of fenugreek seeds, mustard seeds, cumin seeds, kalonji seeds, and fennel seeds.
For the springtime, I make my own spice blend and it comes in very handy not having to use individual spices...
Here is my Spring Spice Mix:
4 teaspoon coriander seeds
1 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
½ teaspoon ground turmeric
½ teaspoon powdered ginger
Place all ingredients in a coffee grinder dedicated to spices or use a mortar and pestle. Grind to a fine powder. Store in an airtight glass jar away from light and heat.
This is a raw spice blend, so you should add it:
at the beginning of cooking or
at the end of cooking in which case you will need to first toast the spices separately with ghee or oil over low heat until the spices release their aroma (very quick, 10 seconds) then drizzle over your food.