Best Hing Brands in India: The Best One For Your Tadkas

Native to Iran and Afghanistan, asafoetida is a spice that is obtained from the resin of the Ferula assa-foetida plant and is known for its extremely pungent smell. In India it is also known as Hing or Heeng (हींग). For those who are not accustomed to the strong aroma, the flavor of hing can be a bit overwhelming.

Hing is available in two forms – in its pure form (this is usually a hard, resin block) and in compounded form. Compounded hing is where it’s mixed with wheat to reduce the pungency and make it more consumer friendly.

From using it for its medicinal purposes to adding it to tadkas on dals, hing is a highly used spice in Indian cuisine. Which is why we picked eight brands of compounded hing available around the country to test them for their flavor and pungency. After conducting two rounds of taste tests, we chose MDH Hing (Top Pick) as one of the best hing brands in India. The flavor it imparts to the dal using minimal quantity is superlative. We Also Recommend Everest Hing.

Did you know? Hing is sometimes called Devil’s dung because of its smell and taste.

Here is all that you need to know about our review of the best hing brands. 

1. Available Variants

Asafoetida is of two types by nature – 

• Hing Kabuli Sufaid (Milky white asafoetida)
• Hing Lal (Red asafoetida)

For consumers, it can be available in its pure form or compounded form as described above.

2. Available Sizes

Available sizes of compounded hing in India are – 

• 10 grams
• 25 grams
• 50 grams
• 100 grams

3. Price Range

For a 25 gram bottle of hing, the average price is between Rs 40/- to Rs 60/-. Some brands may be priced higher or lower than this. This is an average estimate. 

4. Shelf Life

The shelf life can vary between 12-24 months.

5. Packaging

Compounded hing is packed in small plastic jars and is sealed shut. Some brands may have a revolving cap to ease the sprinkling of hing.

Due to their extremely high pungency, these are usually bottled in air-tight containers.

Here is a tabular comparison of all the brands of hing we reviewed for their price, net weight, shelf life and main ingredients. All that you need to know about the best hing brands review – 

To review the best hing brands we prepared a basic skeleton of the process. Our review process was a simple one and we divided it into two broad stages – 

Stage 1: Dry inspection

The dry inspection stage included us gauging the ingredients, packaging, label information and appearance of the hing. 

Stage 2: Blind Test (Aroma)

During this stage, we were presented with hing samples one by one in a small petri dish to test it for its aroma and pungency. The name of the brand was unknown.

Stage 3: Mishry Secret Sauce – Dal tadka taste test

Hing is primarily used in India to add to dal tadkas, so testing it for a tadka was of prime importance. We tasted the dal with hing jeera tadka to check which dal has the best aroma of hing and which one imparts the best flavour out of the eight brands being reviewed. 

For this, we boiled arhar dal with turmeric and salt. The dal was then equally divided into eight portions. Each dal was topped with a simple hing-jeera tadka. In ½ tsp Amul ghee, we added ⅛ tsp hing and ⅛ tsp jeera. We standardized the amount of hing used because this also helped us gauge the potency.

Our review parameters are – 

1. Ingredients

The main ingredients of a compounded hing are – Wheat flour, Edible gum, and Asafoetida. Most brands also mention the percentage of wheat flour used in the hing. We checked all the brands for these. 

2. Aroma + Pungency

The characteristic smell of hing is often described as sulphuric. It’s not something that is considered very pleasant or aromatic. In its uncooked form it’s much more pungent but it reduces significantly once it’s added to hot oil/to a dish. 

We checked all the brands for their pungency and the aroma they add to a simple dal.

3. Flavor

Hing imparts an umami flavor to the planiest of dishes, especially a dal. While most people might be reluctant to try this out around the world, most Indians understand the depth of flavor, almost a layer of savoriness this adds.

We were looking for the dal with the best, most pronounced hing flavor.

4. Appearance

Fine powder, granulated or a mix of both? Is the color light or dark? 

5. Potency + Value For Money

We added the same quantity of hing to all the dals to check the potency. How much of hing is needed to make a bowl of dal significantly flavorful? This in turn also helped us check if the brand is value for money.

MDH’s Hing comes in a small cylindrical white plastic bottle. The hing is not a fine powder, but has bigger granules in comparison (see picture).

The pungency is the highest in MDH. While this is the most expensive hing amongst all the contenders, the fact that only a small quantity is required to impart a significant flavor makes it worthwhile.

Everest Hing powder comes in a red plastic bottle with a lid. It is light beige in color and is a mic of small granules and powder. The dal we made with Everest Hing has a medium-high pungency. The flavor is very well-rounded but is slightly lesser than MDH. So potency wise it’s a slight step down from our Top Pick.

Patanjali’s Hing comes in a white wide-mouthed plastic bottle. The quality of the plastic bottle is not as great as the others. The hing is dark beige in color and is a mix of coarse granules and powder.

The hing has a highly pungent aroma, but the umami flavor is reduced in comparison. That said, it does enhance the flavor of the dal.

Aachi’s Hing comes in a white plastic bottle with a rotating lid. The lid has a marked opening, which rotates and helps sprinkle the hing without using a spoon. The hing is light beige in color and is a fine powder with a few coarse particles.

This hing has medium pungency and it will definitely take a bit more quantity to impart the desirable flavor.

Ramdev Hing comes in an orange plastic bottle. The color is beige and we could see tiny dark brown granules. It is a mix of fine-coarse powder. 

The pungency level is high, but within the standardized quantity we added to the tadka, this wasn’t as flavorful. You will definitely need more hing to flavor the dish.

Catch’s Hing comes in a yellow bottle with a red lid. The hing has a dark beige color with smaller granules (when compared to MDH). Catch did not win because it has a very low pungency and it failed to impart any hing-like flavor to the dal.

LG’s Hing powder comes in a white bottle with a rotating lid, similar to Aachi. The fine powder is light beige in color. Even though LG has high pungency, it did not lend a natural hing flavor to the dal.

Hamdard’s Hing powder comes in a yellow plastic bottle with a flap lid from which you can sprinkle the hing directly. This is a fine powder and is light beige in color.

It did not win our review because of its peculiar aroma that wasn’t very hing-like. It’s definitely very low on pungency and doesn’t impart a good flavor to the dal. 

Why did we choose MDH as our Top Pick? Why do we Also Recommend Everest Hing?

A good hing powder should be pungent and turn the dish flavorful using even the smallest quantity. We chose MDH as our Top Pick because it fulfilled both those points. Even though it’s the most expensive out of all the brands, the fact that only a little amount was needed to flavor a bowl of dal makes it high in potency and thus value for money.

We Also Recommend Everest Hing as it is an economical pick. This brand also does a good job of flavoring the dal wonderfully. The pungency is a bit lower than MDH.

Related Reading – Benefits Of Asafoetida: Here’s Why You Should Add Hing In Your Dals And Curries

Here are some interesting FAQs on best hing brands.

MDH Hing is pungent and potent, making it our Top Pick. All you need is a small pinch and your dal will be bursting with flavor. It is also the most expensive one amongst all the contenders. We Also Recommend Everest Hing because it’s economical and lends a delicious flavor to a plain dish. 

Do you use hing often in your kitchen? If yes, what do you use it for apart from tadkas?

Our reviews are unbiased and all samples used during the reviews were paid for by us. Read our entire ethics statement here.