Mamta's Kitchen - A Family Cookbook
Black Cumin Seeds
On Friday I bought some black cumin seeds (TRS) and I went to put them into the spice jar earlier and noticed that they look slightly different to the ones I'm normally used to seeing and using.
The ones I normally use are a lot thinner, darker in colour and smell slightly different to the ones I curently have.
People often point out that you shouldn't confuse black cumin for caraway and in the past I've often wondered how they could because the two look so different. But after seeing these black cumin seeds (product of Pakistan) I can see how someone might confused them for caraway. They look like caraway seeds but smell similar to white cumin.
Can someone shed any light on this?
This is my picture of them together, don?t know how to post it here, so follow the link; http://www.flickr.com/photos/mamta1/3716552196/
Black cumin is finer and darker, with a richer flavour/aroma. It is called Shai Jeera (fit for Shah?s or Kings) or Kala Jeera (Black Jeera). The lighter, ordinary jeera is used in most everyday Indian dishes, but black cumin is used in richer dishes, especially meat dishes, briyanies etc. As we know, both are very different from caraway in flavour. They both can vary in size and aroma quite a bit. I guess they are only plants and have many different grades/varieties. So, perhaps you have a different variety, unless someone labelled the packet wrongly!
Hmmmmm............Never tried this, must try with meat dishes in future.
Well that is how I know black cumin seeds to look too, Mamta.
The ones I have smell like black cumin but look thicker and slightly lighter in colour.
Here's a picture: http://www.flickr.com/photos/40399029@N07/3715879155/
They do look like caraway seeds Pete, more than like black cumin. However, if the flavour is like black cumin, they must be what the packet says.
Mamta
I'm with Mamta here, they look like caraway seed to me.
What do they taste like, do they have a vague flavour of spearmint? If they are caraway seeds, they will contain a substance called carvone, which is a stereo isomer of the flavouring in spearmint. Sometimes the carvone molecules flip shape, and taste like the other! Same with coriander and lavender (linalool).
Some stereo pairs are so different that one isomer is totally undetectable by smell whilst the other has a wonderful floral aroma!
I know caraway seeds because I use them in my Mexican cooking from time to time, and these are definitely not caraway seeds. I tasted a few caraway seeds and you're right about the spearmint taste, Lapis.
The black cumin seeds in question do look like caraway I have to admit. The ones I normally use are like the ones in the picture Mamta posted.
The seeds have a cumin-ish taste and the aroma is slightly menthol - it's difficult to describe.
After chewing on these seeds for a while I can taste white cumin. To me, black cumin has an earthy-like aroma and taste to it.
These seeds are too aromatic to be black cumin - although there is a distinct black cumin-like aroma when you first take the lid off the jar.
I do know for sure that they're not caraway.
Hiccup.
then they may be what I call amber cumin, something I have noticed before. I have come across them, they are more like the taste of ordinary cumin, but look dark brown.
It is often forgotten that, like vegetables, different spice varieties are grown. Like chilli varieties, which I have researched, there are many varieties of some spices to suit different climatic regions in India, of which there are more than seems logical. Chillies are hybridized to combat wilt and drought and become tough against pests and disease, so it is with spices, root ginger, turmeric, etc.
I am going to buy some proper black cumin seeds from the Asian store tomorrow and the ones we have now can go to the back of the cupboard and gather dust lol.