Fenugreek seeds

These look like little angular, yellow stones which are really hard. They have extremely strong bitter flavour and scent. Generally fried before use to intensify the aroma and mellow the flavour.

Fenugreek powder is produced by pounding these seeds so it has a very strong flavour.

Fenugreek seeds are used commercially in curry powders as they give off the very characteristic curry aromatics.

Because fenugreek seeds have a strong harsh flavour they tend to be used a lot for pickling and to make chutneys. There are also some iconic fenugreek flavoured dishes such as Kharee from the Punjab which is a yoghurt based dish and in the south it forms the base of spice powders used to cook sambhar (a spicy lentil and vegetable dish).

Fenugreek seeds and powder are much stronger then than Methi which is the herb (dried leaves of fenugreek).