BARLEY FLOUR
What is barley flour?
Barley flour is a flour prepared from dried and ground barley. Barley flour is used to prepare barley bread and other breads, such as flat bread and yeast breads. There are two general types of barley flour: coarse and fine.
Barley groats are milled to make coarse barley flour, and pearl barley is milled to make fine barley flour. Additionally, patent barley flour is a finer barley flour that is ground to a greater degree compared to fine barley flour.
Use of barley flour
Barley flour is used to prepare breads such as barley bread. It is sometimes added to wheat flour, creating a composite flour, which is used to prepare various breads. Its addition to wheat flour creates a darker-colored baked end-product, and also alters the flavor of the product.
Barley flour is also used as an ingredient in some specialty foods. Barley breading is another food product prepared using barley flour, which can be prepared using pregelatinized barley flour and an additional product called barley crunch, similar to Grape-Nuts cereal.
** source : Wikipedia
ASAFOETIDA
What is asafoetida?
This is a gum from a variety of giant fennel, which naturally has a horrid and offensive smell, rather like rotting garlic, as in foetid. Yet it is considered the most blessed of flavourings amongst Jain and Brahmin Indians,
who eat neither garlic nor onions, for it adds a very similar savouriness. Asafoetida is also a Godsend to the many millions of others who won’t eat or can’t properly digest raw or undercooked onion or who don’t like garlic, either to eat or subsequently smell on their breath.