Fenugreek
Trigonella foenum-graecum
A small annual legume. Seeds toast to a maple-bitter scent used in curry powders and some pickles. Fresh leaves (methi) are a greens crop in South Asian cooking.
GROW → HARVEST → EAT → DRY → POWDER → CAPSULE → GUMMY — forms are not equivalent. Food first.
Identity
Also called: methi, fenugreek-leaf
What it is
A small annual legume. Seeds toast to a maple-bitter scent used in curry powders and some pickles. Fresh leaves (methi) are a greens crop in South Asian cooking.
From the existing encyclopedia
Home cooks and herbal tea drinkers know Fenugreek for its signature scent and the way it layers with citrus, honey, or allium. Fenugreek seed toasts maple-scented before grinding into curry powders. Cross-link pantry planning with v1 kits on the store page when this item appears in a bundle. Pairs well with garlic, onion, and black pepper in savory dishes. When substituting dried Fenugreek for fresh, use about one-third the volume and bloom in fat or hot water before adding acid or dairy.
Edible portions
- seeds
- young leaves
Absence of a portion from this list means it is not treated as food here — not that every other part is toxic.
Growing
- Climate. Annual; cool to warm
- Light. Full sun
- Soil. Average, well-drained
- Planting. Direct-sow densely for greens or thin for seed.
- Harvest. Greens as a cut-and-come crop; seed pods when dry.
Preparation and culinary uses
- Toast seed for curry blends
- Fresh methi in flatbreads and saag
Nutrition and compounds
- Plant compounds. sotolon (maple note). Presence is not a dose, a cure, or a reason to buy a capsule.
AAA interpretation Food first. These associations explain why a plant shows up in a nutrient conversation — they are not a supplement shopping list.
Traditional uses
Traditional use Culinary spice; folk metabolic discussions exist — food seasoning is the use this site describes
AAA interpretation Traditional use is not automatically evidence, and evidence is not automatically a shopping recommendation.
Next steps
Sources
- USDA PLANTS Database — taxonomy and range (verify current entries)
- USDA FoodData Central — nutrient profiles for foods (verify current entries; this page does not invent milligrams)
- State cooperative extension growing guides — verify for your region
- Integrated from the existing aaaLifetime / quantum-biohack encyclopedia corpus (unique text preserved where it was not boilerplate).
Honest incompleteness is preferred to fabricated completeness. If a section is missing, no record for it is attached here — not a claim that the plant lacks that characteristic, and not that it was omitted as a secret.
Internal quality class A. Strong page: distinctive plant facts plus practical growing or kitchen use.