Fenugreek

Fenugreek seed is small, hard, and stubborn, and that stubbornness is the whole point. Toast it and the bitterness backs off while a warm, almost maple-like aroma comes forward. Push the heat too far, though, and it turns sharp and acrid in a breath. Trust your nose here, not the clock: a raw seed smells like hay, faintly grassy, and that hay-like scent is even baked into its name. Toasted, it should smell warm and rounded, never scorched. Choose seeds that are small, squarish, and the colour of pale amber, not grey. Some people say fenugreek is a lentil, since it looks like one and sits in a pod. No! It's a legume, but not the eating kind of pulse — botanically it belongs with clover and alfalfa. That misunderstanding leads cooks to boil it like a lentil, expecting it to turn soft and creamy the same way. It won't. Simmer fenugreek seeds long enough and they soften into something slippery and gel-like, thanks to the mucilage inside them, never creamy the way a cooked lentil is. It wants a dry pan, a few seconds, and a nose paying attention — not a pot of water and patience.