fenugreek leaves
The leaves of the fenugreek plant, used fresh as a leafy green or dried as a seasoning herb. Bitter-savoury with a warm aroma reminiscent of maple syrup.
Fenugreek leaves come from the same plant whose seeds are better known as a spice, and in Nepal, northern India and Pakistan they are cooked fresh like spinach or dried and sprinkled over sauces and curries. Fresh, the small oval leaves are distinctly bitter, so they are usually cooked with potatoes, lentils or fat, which softens the bitterness. Dried, they lose much of that bitterness and smell strongly of hay and caramel, so they are used sparingly and usually crumbled between the fingers towards the end of cooking. Dried leaves are sold in Asian and Indian grocery shops and by mail order, while fresh bunches turn up only occasionally in Indian or well-stocked Asian shops.
Substitute:
In sauces, fresh and dried leaves can stand in for each other, though only a fraction of the amount is needed when dried, and the bitterness of the fresh leaves is lost. As a vegetable, spinach with a pinch of ground fenugreek seed comes closest but matches neither the bitterness nor the distinctive aroma. There is no truly equivalent substitute.
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