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Fennel seeds

Seeds

Fennel seeds

Foeniculum vulgare

Pale green, ridged seeds with a sweet anise flavour; tempered, ground into masalas or chewed after meals.

Also called: saunf, rezene tohumu

  • Anise & liquorice
  • Warm & sweet
  • Herbal & green
  • No heat
Buying & storing47 recipes

Photo: NanaYawBotar, via Wikimedia Commons (CC-BY-SA-4.0)

Flavour and aroma

sweet, anise-like, fresh. Sweet, anise, slightly woody.

Heat
No heat
Forms
whole, ground

How to use it

  • bloom in fat · Tadka (tempering) technique

    Fry in hot oil for 15–20 seconds until a shade darker, for panch phoron and pickles.

  • dry roast · Spice roasting (dry-roasting) technique

    Roast lightly over low heat for 1–2 minutes before grinding for garam masala or Kashmiri saunf powder.

  • use raw

    Chew raw after meals, or sugar-coat for mukhwas.

  • Panch phoron and Bengali tempering
  • Kashmiri curries and Chettinad masala
  • Italian sausages and pork
  • Breads and pickles
  • Mukhwas after meals

Identifying good quality

Oval, ridged seeds 4–8 mm long, green to greenish-tan. Greener seeds are fresher and sweeter. Lucknowi saunf is smaller and brighter green.

  • Not to be confused with Cumin seeds: Cumin is smaller, browner and earthy.
  • Not to be confused with Anise seed: Anise is smaller, grey-green and sweeter; Indian shops sometimes call both saunf.

Origin and history

Origin: The Mediterranean.. Grown and used: India is a major producer (Gujarat, Rajasthan); also grown in Egypt, China, Turkey and Europe..

Fennel seed (saunf) is chewed after meals across India as a breath freshener, and it is a key spice in Kashmiri Pandit cooking, Bengali panch phoron and Rajasthani and Lucknowi dishes. The small, bright green Lucknowi saunf is prized for chewing.

Well documented

In masalas, pastes and sauces

Recipes with fennel seeds

25 more