Hathras district (previously called Mahamaya Nagar district) is a district of Uttar Pradesh state of India. The city of Hathras is the district headquarters. Hathras district is a part of Aligarh division.
Hathras has been a large scale producer of Asafoetida or hing for the last 100 years. This has given the district a distinct identity.
What is Asafoetida?
Asafoetida (Ferula asafoetida) is the dried sap — or gum resin — obtained from the roots of Ferula plants. It’s commonly dried, ground into a coarse, yellow powder, and used for either culinary or medicinal purposes. As a seasoning, asafoetida is known for its strong, pungent odor, which is due to its high concentration of sulfur compounds. In fact, due to its unpleasant smell, it’s sometimes referred to as stinking gum.
For most foodies, though, it comes as a surprise that this signature flavour and household staple was never cultivated in India. Or the fact that the raw produce comes from distant lands of Iran and Afghanistan and has been produced in a small village of Hathras in Uttar Pradesh for over 100 years now.Hathras was an industrial hub during the British Raj. Cotton milling, knives, the spice asafoetida or and Desi Ghee products were the main industries.The aroma of food after asafoetida is so rich, that the spice counts as a must-have for culinary enthusiasts. Known to also have medicinal properties, it was rumoured to cure many “women’s ailments’ and also act as an antidote to opium.
In Hathras now, hing continues to be a mainstay for residents. The region, boasting of about 135 factories and about 60-70 crores worth of business, provides steady employment.
Medicinal Uses of Hing-
People use asafoetida for conditions such as breathing or throat problems, digestion problems. Asafoetida is also sometimes applied directly to the skin for corns and calluses, but there is no good scientific evidence to support these uses.In manufacturing, asafoetida is used as a fragrance in cosmetics and as a flavouring ingredient in foods and beverages.
You will find many manufacturing companies of Asafoetida in Hathras which produce unaltered hing powder....
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