Description :
The fennel seed has sweet agreeable flavor and an odour similar to aniseed. It's a cooling spice. In ancient times, fennel was considered to increase strength. Roman gladiators mixed it with their food before entering the arena.The famous battle of Marathon in 490 B.C, was fought on a fennel field. Fennel is a native of Europe and Asia Minor.
Today, India is by far the largest source of fennel along with Egypt and China. In India it thrives in the sunny, limey well-drained loams of Gujarat, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.
Scientific Names :
Botanical name
Family name
Commercial part
Foeniculum vulgare Miller
Apiaceae
Fruit
Usage :
In India, fennel powder is always used without the frying process. In Chettinand cuisine whole fennel seeds are used.
Throughout the centuries fennel was prescribed for everything from weight loss to tooth ache to colic to snake bite.
