Star anise

Star anise is the dried, star-shaped fruit of Illicium verum. In Hindi markets you’ll see it as chakra phool, with a fragrance that spreads fast in hot fat.

You’ll find it sold whole most often, sometimes ground as a powder, and its essential oil is also used for flavoring.

Licorice-like and sweet, reminiscent of fennel, with a warming, aromatic depth from anethole. There’s a mild bitterness that mellows into a sweet perfume when you bloom it in warm ghee or oil.

For everyday cooking, use whole stars. Add them to hot oil or ghee at tadka, then let them sit in the pan to perfume the base. You can also simmer whole stars in broths, gravies, or rice water and remove before serving.

Use the powder in garam masala or sprinkle toward the end for a finishing touch. In South Indian cooking, especially Chettinad non-vegetarian curries, it’s roasted with other whole spices to make fragrant masala pastes.

Indigenous to southeastern China and northeastern Vietnam, where most of the global cultivation still happens. Within India, it’s grown on a limited commercial scale in Arunachal Pradesh.

Dried star anise is rich in volatile essential oil, mostly trans-anethole, which gives its licorice aroma. It is also a well-known natural source of shikimic acid, along with phenolic compounds.