According to Mountain Rose Herbs: "Cumin is the seed of a small plant in the parsley family. Its use goes back 5000 years to the Egyptians, who used it not only as a spice but as an ingredient in the mummification process. The Greeks and Romans also used cumin and highly regarded it as one of the essential spices. In the Middle Ages cumin seed was thought to promote love and fidelity, so it was carried by attendees of weddings, and soldiers were always sent off to battle with a fresh leaf of cumin seed bread. Pungent, sharp, and slightly sweet, the greenish brown powder of this herb is an essential ingredient in Mexican and Indian cuisine."
Cumin (also known as Jeera) has a richness of history to give it a special place in the world of spices. Ancient Egyptians used it for the mummification process. And the humble jeera is a part of almost every Indian kitchen and on a hot summer day it’s sheer bliss to have a glass of buttermilk with a dash of cumin powder. Roasted jeera has a very unique flavor and adds much taste to an ordinary dish like aloo ki sabzi. Apart from taste, cumin has lots of health benefits and that’s why you should ass it in your diet.
Cumin seeds contain numerous phyto-chemicals that are known to have antioxidant, carminative and anti-flatulent properties. The seeds are an excellent source of dietary fiber.
These informations are scattered throughout in different languages.So it was our aim to put in a single volume in a systematic manner so that different category of readers like herbal chemist,scientists and students may be benefited by using the same. |
