Once again, there isn’t a great deal I was able to find out that would validate the claims made for another spice I use a lot – hing.
Here’s what I did find out.
I was surprised to learn that hing has been called some pretty uncomplimentary names in many languages, usually alluding to the devil: merde du diable (devil’s shit) in French, devil’s dung and stinking gum in English, Dyvelsträck in Swedish, and Seytantersi in Turkish, among others!
I quite like the aroma of this spice (admittedly quite strong) even before it is added to oil or hot water. So this was news to me, that to so many people the smell of raw hing is not appealing at all. However, the flavor released after hing has been fried in a little bit of oil is described variously as being akin to that of shallots/leeks/garlic, and in fact the spice seems to be used by many – such as those communities in India that do not use onions and garlic in their cooking – for this reason.
The English name for hing -Asoefetida– is derived from the Persian word “aza”, which means resin, and the Latin foetidus, for “stinking”.
This spice, reddish brown or yellow in color, is a gum resin obtained from the sap of the giant fennel plant Ferula Asoefetida , of the family Umbelliferae. The entire plant gets used as a vegetable, and all its parts give off a strong odor, a result of the sulfur compounds that it contains. This plant is native to Iran and Afghanistan, though most of the raw asoefetida from these places is sent to India for further processing. In India this plant is grown in Kashmir.
Commercially available forms of this spice include both hard pieces of the resin, as well as a powder form in which the resin is mixed with rice flour and gum arabic, after being crushed.
Asoefetida, believed to aid digestion, is commonly used in Indian cooking, albeit usually only a pinch at a time, to prevent flatulence. It is also believed to be an effective anti-spasmodic.
In traditional medicine it is often used as an antidote to brochitis,asthma, bronchitis and whooping cough. In earlier times in Europe, it’s strong smell was thought to repel germs, and to help calm episodes of hysteria.
And apparently court singers in the Mughal empire would habitually eat a spoon of asoefetida with butter in the belief that it improved their singing voice.
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/37633/asafetida
http://www.theepicentre.com/Spices/asafetid.html
An Indian Kitchen in France 
Remember when your masi gave some real strong hing from Haridwar and your entire suitcase was hingofied !! That night you spent in Saket in our house after the adventurous bus journey.
‘allo there, Priti
now there’s a “fragrant” memory 😉
BTW i still await your Ma’s bathua raita recipe.
though bathua will be impossible to find here, so tell me if there are any close/acceptable substitutes?