Cumin

Cumin

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Cumin is a spice that comes from the Cuminum cyminum plant. It is native to Asia, Africa, and Europe. However, people all around the world use it to flavor meals. People usually buy cumin in the form of whole dried seeds or as ground powder. It is a typical ingredient in many spice blends, such as curry powder.

Description

Cumin seeds are harvested by hand from an annual plant; they are small, boat-shaped, and resemble caraway seeds. The most common variety of cumin is a brownish-yellow color, although you can also sometimes find black cumin, green cumin, and white cumin.

You will find whole seeds in Indian recipes (also called jeera) and ground cumin as an ingredient in Mexican and Middle Eastern dishes, as well as chili, barbecue sauce, baked beans, soups, and marinades. Cumin is a typical ingredient in chili powder and is also often found in other spice blends such as garam masala, curry powder, achiote blends, adobos, berbere, and bahaarat.

Cumin is available as both whole seeds and ground powder and both are used in recipes. Whole cumin, for example, is featured in Indian dishes, where the whole seeds are added to hot oil at the start of the dish so the flavor infuses the oil and therefore the rest of the ingredients.

More flavor is brought out when the seed is lightly roasted, which is done easily using a dry pan over medium heat.Ground cumin is made by grinding dry roasted cumin seeds. It can be added at any time to a recipe as its flavor doesn't need heat or time to be released, as is the case with the seeds.

More intense and nuanced flavor can be enjoyed by lightly roasting whole cumin seeds and then grinding the seeds in a spice grinder or with a mortar and pestle. You might want to take that into consideration when using measurements for a recipe and are grinding cumin from freshly roasted seed. Once ground, cumin will gradually lose its flavor over time and should be replaced regularly.