Seeds
Radhuni
Trachyspermum roxburghianum
Tiny brown seeds with a strong celery-parsley flavour, used in Bengali tempering (phoron) for dal and vegetables.
Also called: randhuni, wild celery seed, radhuni seeds, chanu
Around the world: রাঁধুনি (bn)
- Herbal & green
- Pungent & sulphurous
- No heat
Flavour and aroma
celery-like, parsley-like, slightly bitter. Celery-like, slightly bitter and warm.
- Heat
- No heat
- Forms
- whole
How to use it
bloom in fat · Tadka (tempering) technique
Add a pinch to hot mustard oil and stir for 5–10 seconds, until it crackles and smells of celery; add the dal or vegetables at once.
- Tempering for dal, shukto and vegetable dishes
- Some panch phoron mixes in place of mustard
- Bangladeshi fish and meat curries
Identifying good quality
Tiny grey-brown ribbed seeds, like a small ajwain. Crushed, they smell strongly of celery, not thyme.
- Not to be confused with Ajwain: Ajwain smells of thyme.
- Not to be confused with Celery seed: The closest flavour; celery seed is sometimes sold as radhuni outside Bengal.
Origin and history
Origin: South Asia; cultivated in Bengal.. Grown and used: Grown and used mainly in West Bengal and Bangladesh..
Radhuni is a characteristically Bengali tempering seed, used in dals, shukto and fish curries. Some Bengali and Bangladeshi cooks use it in panch phoron in place of mustard seed. It is little known outside Bengal.
Uncertain
Recipes with radhuni
No recipes use it yet.