This spicy plant is cultivated mainly in the south of Russia. In the middle lane, few have heard of him. The plant is also present in the wild. Pets love to eat it. Mushroom grass will give an extraordinary flavor to your dishes.
Description
Fenugreek, or trigonella, is a plant of the legume family. It is an annual green stem with branches, covered with elongated leaves. The height of the plant is about thirty centimeters. The leaf is small and has serrated edges. Inflorescences are bluish-lilac, arranged vertically. Fenugreek blooms in June-July. The plant is an excellent honey plant. Mushroom grass is also used as an ornamental garden plant.
Origin
The plant came to us from India. Its other name is shamballa. It grows in the foothills of Iraq, Turkey, Iran, to the Himalayas in the east, and is also found in Ethiopia and Egypt. In the people, the spice is also called: fenigrekova grass, fenugrek, fenumgrek, Greek goat shamrock, Greek hay, Greek fenugreek, Greek cinnamon, cocked hat, camel, mushroom grass.
Fenugreekcultivated as a forage crop. A special variety of blue fenugreek is used as a condiment. This is facilitated by the high content in the seeds of aromatic essential oils, trigonelline alkaloid, bitter and tannins, saponin, starch, mineral s alts, sugar, vitamins P, PP.
Use
In food, not only the stems and leaves are used, but also the seeds of blue fenugreek. In Caucasian cuisine, you can find ucho suneli - dry, crushed tops of blue fenugreek stalks. The rich taste of trigonella is ideal for meat, fish dishes and mushrooms. It enhances the meaty flavor of roasts, broths, sauces and gravies. The specific shade of fenugreek essential oils is reminiscent of nuts.
Eastern cuisine also uses fenugreek seeds, calling it Khulba. They are used to thicken foods. The high protein content of seeds helps retain moisture. In the Middle Ages, this seasoning passed from the Arabs to the Spaniards. However, over time, the tradition was forgotten, and now fenugreek is extremely rare in the markets. Perhaps this is due to the appearance of overseas spices, as well as the difficulty of collecting and preparing fenugreek. The grass has been preserved in the walls of the monasteries as a medicine. Mushroom grass increases appetite with a pleasant aroma, and seeds contain essential amino acids.
Seasoning is very popular in Bulgaria. Trigonella, or mushroom grass, is used for hot dishes. It is seasoned with thick meat soups chorba, added to gyuvech and mixed seasonings are made on its basis. The famous Georgian spice hops-suneli is bitter because of fenugreek.
Cooking
Seasoning is being prepared in advance. Fenugreek seeds are very hard. First, they are poured with water, and then ground, then dried again, used as a seasoning. Soaking is also necessary to remove bitterness. Stems are used mainly young, sometimes with inflorescences. They are collected, dried, and then carefully ground. It is believed that young greens taste like mushrooms. So they say, selling fenugreek seeds for planting. This is just a common misconception. If you find fresh fenugreek in an oriental bazaar, it will most likely not smell like anything. The taste of green trigonella is similar to spinach. Dried grass resembles lovage, but with a more delicate aroma.
Growing
Trigonella is bred with seeds. Sow in open ground at the end of April. Planting depth - 1.5-2 centimeters, row spacing - from 20 to 30 centimeters. Shoots are visible on the 7-10th day. After the appearance of 2-3 true leaves, young crops are thinned out, leaving 5-6 centimeters between plants.
Like all legumes, trigonella enriches the soil with nitrogen compounds and is a good predecessor for absolutely all plants. Diseases and pests do not affect fenugreek. By the second half of June, mushroom grass bushes grow by 40-60 cm. Elongated pods with seeds form on them. By the end of August, they ripen - they turn yellow, and the seeds turn yellow-brown.
Forto obtain seasoning, the tops with seeds are cut off at the stage of milky-wax ripeness. To obtain seeds for sowing, the tops are harvested when the beans turn brown. They are dried, threshed, cleaned of debris. Dry again and store in paper bags at room temperature. Fenugreek also propagates by self-sowing.
