Fenugreek is the ripe, dried fruit of an annual leguminous herb. Both seeds and plant of this herb is used in Indian cuisine.
The dried leaves of the fenugreek is used as a quality flavour for meat, fish and vegetable dishes. It acts as a medicine as well as an embalming agent. Fenugreek seeds are rich in vitamin E and is one of the earliest spices known to man.
Fenugreek has a strong, quite peculiar odour reminiscent of maple. It is used in almost all dishes and in pickles. The major producers of Indian Fenugreek are Rajasthan, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
Commercially known as 'Methi', Indian Fenugreek comes in several well-known varieties such as 'Desi' and 'champa'. The spice is exported in its whole and powdered form. The extracted oil of fenugreek is extensively used in perfumery.
