Fenugreek is an annual legume grown for two distinct foods: its hard, amber-gold SEEDS and its clover-like leaves (fresh or dried, "methi"). The toasted seed is one of the most recognisable smells in cooking — warm maple and burnt sugar wrapped around a savoury curry depth, edged with a clean bitterness — and that maple note is no metaphor: it is sotolon, the very molecule that defines maple syrup, which is why fenugreek is used to flavour imitation maple syrups. The seed is a backbone of Indian curry powders, panch phoron, sambar and dal, while the bitter-grassy leaves season saag, breads and potato dishes.