Fenugreek elixir

[Wendyp]

I just wanted to report on my success with fenugreek. Since I discovered how much my hair hates sls I started getting pimples on my scalp :demon:
But I came across Farrah Dukkai and her recommendation for fenugreek. It got rid of my pimples like in hours! Here's the video:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BLpb8PvhxQI/?utm_medium=copy_link

[shelomit]

Huh, very interesting. I started using fenugreek tea as a detangling spray on a whim after jane_marie mentioned trying it early this year. I always have fenugreek seeds in the kitchen and making the tea is a first step to cooking with them in most cases. I've definitely found it the best thing for that purpose. It provides a lot of nice "slime" when you're first detangling and after it dries leaves my hair feeling a little softer and more supple than usual. Plus, it makes my hair smell like cake ( ; I don't have scalp acne (knock on wood!), so I can't speak to that discovery.

I should have known that the fenugreek tea would turn out very mucilaginous, because Egyptians are infamous for our love of slimy foods like molokheya and okra! "Housewives' wisdom" says that the fenugreek seeds are supposed to help the digestion and they're added to country-style bread for that reason and as a cheap source of protein. I'd never heard of putting it on the skin/hair before jane_marie mentioned it, though.

[Wendyp]

Huh, very interesting. I started using fenugreek tea as a detangling spray on a whim after jane_marie mentioned trying it early this year. I always have fenugreek seeds in the kitchen and making the tea is a first step to cooking with them in most cases. I've definitely found it the best thing for that purpose. It provides a lot of nice "slime" when you're first detangling and after it dries leaves my hair feeling a little softer and more supple than usual. Plus, it makes my hair smell like cake ( ; I don't have scalp acne (knock on wood!), so I can't speak to that discovery.

I should have known that the fenugreek tea would turn out very mucilaginous, because Egyptians are infamous for our love of slimy foods like molokheya and okra! "Housewives' wisdom" says that the fenugreek seeds are supposed to help the digestion and they're added to country-style bread for that reason and as a cheap source of protein. I'd never heard of putting it on the skin/hair before jane_marie mentioned it, though.

That makes a lot of sense regarding digestion since Indian food is so good for digestion and they use alot of fenugreek. I just saw someone else post about using fenugreek as moisturizer on the Classic and longer thread I think it is. I also just discovered catnip.

[SaveTheTapirs]

That's amazing! I've been wanting to try it on my hair, but I didn't know it had benefits for skin too. It's also used as a lactation aid. It's too bad there aren't any Indian stores where I live. I'll have to check Amazon.

[SaveTheTapirs]

Huh, very interesting. I started using fenugreek tea as a detangling spray on a whim after jane_marie mentioned trying it early this year. I always have fenugreek seeds in the kitchen and making the tea is a first step to cooking with them in most cases. I've definitely found it the best thing for that purpose. It provides a lot of nice "slime" when you're first detangling and after it dries leaves my hair feeling a little softer and more supple than usual. Plus, it makes my hair smell like cake ( ; I don't have scalp acne (knock on wood!), so I can't speak to that discovery.

I should have known that the fenugreek tea would turn out very mucilaginous, because Egyptians are infamous for our love of slimy foods like molokheya and okra! "Housewives' wisdom" says that the fenugreek seeds are supposed to help the digestion and they're added to country-style bread for that reason and as a cheap source of protein. I'd never heard of putting it on the skin/hair before jane_marie mentioned it, though.

I want to try it as a spray. Do you know if you need to refrigerate it? I'm wondering how long the shelf life would be.

[Wendyp]

I want to try it as a spray. Do you know if you need to refrigerate it? I'm wondering how long the shelf life would be.

I do refrigerate it as teas have oils in them that can go rancid. I refrigerate all of my homemade hair things. My scalp doesn't need any help being unhappy lol

[shelomit]

I want to try it as a spray. Do you know if you need to refrigerate it? I'm wondering how long the shelf life would be.

I'm certain that refrigerating it would be the responsible thing to do, particularly if you don't use it regularly. . . but I haven't bothered. I make up about a cup at a time, put it in the spritzer, and make another batch once there's too little in the container for it to spray easily anymore. I probably use that much over the course of three weeks or a month; it hasn't gone bad on me in any noticeable way.

You might check other ethnic groceries besides South Asian ones if there are any in your neighborhood. Fenugreek is a pretty common ingredient across much of Asia and Africa. I don't live near any desi groceries anymore, but can easily get fenugreek at either an Iraqi or an Armenian place.

[SaveTheTapirs]

I do refrigerate it as teas have oils in them that can go rancid. I refrigerate all of my homemade hair things. My scalp doesn't need any help being unhappy lol

Thank you! That would be my instinct.


I'm certain that refrigerating it would be the responsible thing to do, particularly if you don't use it regularly. . . but I haven't bothered. I make up about a cup at a time, put it in the spritzer, and make another batch once there's too little in the container for it to spray easily anymore. I probably use that much over the course of three weeks or a month; it hasn't gone bad on me in any noticeable way.

You might check other ethnic groceries besides South Asian ones if there are any in your neighborhood. Fenugreek is a pretty common ingredient across much of Asia and Africa. I don't live near any desi groceries anymore, but can easily get fenugreek at either an Iraqi or an Armenian place.

Thanks! I honestly can't think of any ethnic groceries in my area, but maybe there are some in the bigger city near me. I also need a good spray bottle because I always buy cheap ones that stop working after a month.

[Flittingsis]

I have an order into Mountain Rose Herbs for some fenugreek seeds. I probably could find them locally and might try to this weekend so that I can try this sooner. shelmoit you use the seeds in baking after making tea. Do you grind them or mush them (is that necessary?) when you bake with them? I don't bake but I'm wondering about using them in say my oatmeal or smoothie after making tea.

[shelomit]

shelmoit you use the seeds in baking after making tea. Do you grind them or mush them (is that necessary?) when you bake with them? I don't bake but I'm wondering about using them in say my oatmeal or smoothie after making tea.

Depends on what you are making. In baked goods, I typically leave them whole, whereas in flatbreads cooked on the stovetop they have to be mashed or else it is difficult to roll. I like fenugreek seeds added to most sweet baked goods, but you should probably try eating some plain first to make certain you enjoy the taste. Here are the two dishes I make most often out of "used" fenugreek after I've made tea from the seeds.

For bread, mash or grind the soaked seeds. (I use a coffee/spice grinder for this, but it doesn't have to be perfect.) Mix about one part seeds into three parts dry flour. Add salt and a splash of oil. Mix the flour and seeds together until everything is an even degree of moisture. It's usually roughly a breadcrumb texture by this point, like pie dough before you add the water. Start kneading and adding water bit by bit. If you like puffy flatbreads, it's important to incorporate as much water as possible into the dough. I usually knead it until it holds together, make a little depression in the dough ball, splash some water into the depression, fold it over, and knead until it holds together again. Then cover it with plastic wrap or a moist towel over the bowl and leave it for half an hour or so. Pull off ping-pong-ball-sized bits and roll them out. Note that if you usually make very thin flatbreads, the inclusion of the fenugreek seeds will mean that you can't make them quite as thin as a flour-only dough. I cook them on a comal, but a frying pan will also work. To puff them, cook them halfway on both sides and then use tongs to hold them over a fire. The water inside will turn to steam and puff them up. They stay flexible much longer if you spread a little oil or butter on each one just after it is cooked.

N.B., the Upper Egyptian style fenugreek bread ("esh merahrah") is a sour cornmeal-based bread that is baked up in loaves. It's made with dry ground fenugreek seeds and I have only eaten it a couple of times. This recipe is just how I incorporate fenugreek into the more Lower Egyptian kind of bread that I make daily anyway.

For cake, rub together one part wheat flour and three parts semolina with enough melted butter to make it into that same breadcrumb-type texture. I usually use clarified butter/ghee, but regular butter will work, too--it just makes the cake a little darker. Then add your soaked fenugreek seeds, dry yeast, and enough warm milk to make the dough come together. Pat it into a greased pan. Cut the dough into the size of pieces you will eventually want. Let it sit for an hour or so. It doesn't really rise-rise, but it will start to look a lot looser and puffier than when you first put in in the pan. Bake it in a pretty fast oven, like biscuit-temperature. Either while it's rising or while it's baking, make a syrup out of two parts sugar to one part water. Boil them together until the sugar is all dissolved. If you like, you can flavor the syrup by putting in a cinnamon stick, some pepper grains, cardamoms, or whatever else it is that you like and then fishing them out after the mixture is cool. When the syrup is room-temperature, mix in lemon or lime juice until it is as sweet as you want, keeping in mind that there is no sugar in the cake itself. My grandfather swore that you have to use cold syrup and hot cake, so she chills the syrup in the fridge while the cake is baking. (I have no clue if this step actually matters, LOL.) When the cake is a nice color and no longer liquid in the middle, take it out of the oven and pour the syrup all over top. You have to let the cake sit until it is quite cool or the syrup will not have fully absorbed and the pieces will want to fall apart when you serve them. We have it with tea : )

[Flittingsis]

Sounds delicious! I never had luck making bread but I also haven't tried in a decade.

[Flittingsis]

I got my fenugreek seeds! I used just fenugreek seed tea as conditioner today and it feels pretty nice! I just used 1/2 Tbs in 2 cups of water, so maybe I could use a different proportion to get a little more slime lol. I might do a second tea to put in a spray bottle and see how that feels. Oh, and I used the crushed seeds in some mushroom gravy that I made today and it was delicious! :)