Cumin has been known for centuries. Next to Tut-ankh-Amon’s grave stood a bottle of cumin oil. That grave was built at least 5 millennia ago. Cumin contains a lot of iron. There are many more healthy substances in this small brown-gray seed. Caraway is a spice that tastes a bit like cumin. This seed has several positive aspects for health. It is good for digestion, among other things. NB! This article is written from the personal view of the author and may contain information that is not scientifically substantiated and/or in line with the general view.

Contents

• Minerals in cumin
• Kümmelbrot, cumin bread
• Where does cumin grow?
• The healing power of cumin
• Cumin in drinks
• Cumin in food
• Crushed cumin seeds

Minerals in cumin

4 grams of cumin is enough for 15% of the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) for iron. The iron in cumin is a substance found in hemoglobin. Hemoglobin transports oxygen through the blood. Because iron intake allows more oxygen molecules to flow through the bloodstream, taking extra iron increases general vitality and prevents anemia. Besides iron, cumin contains other minerals. It contains manganese (7% DV), magnesium (3.8% DV) and calcium (3.9% DV). All in all it is a nutritious substance.

Kümmelbrot, cumin bread

Cumin seeds are a tasty addition to bread. In the Middle Ages people already made cumin bread. At that time, cumin was a symbol of love. If you gave your loved one a loaf of cumin bread when he or she went on a trip, you were saying that you loved him very much. At that time, men traveled more than women. The women stayed at home. Each household had its own bread oven.

Where does cumin grow?

Cumin belongs to the same family as caraway, parsley and dill. It originally grows in Egypt. It is still said that the best cumin seeds come from Egypt. Today it grows in hot areas such as North Africa, India, China and the warmest areas of the Americas. It is also possible to grow cumin plants in the Netherlands in the summer. For this purpose, you start germinating the seeds in February/March and finally plant the plants in the soil in May. It takes 4 months for cumin seeds to develop and for you to harvest the cumin.

The healing power of cumin

Cumin was already used as a medicine by the ancient Greeks and Romans. It was mainly used for good digestion. Cumin appears to stimulate the production of enzymes by the thyroid gland. These enzymes ensure better digestion. The liver also contains enzymes whose production is stimulated by cumin. These liver enzymes ensure detoxification, also called detoxification or simply detox. This last function contributes to the fact that cumin works against the formation of cancerous tumors. Animal research has shown that animals do not develop liver and stomach tumors if they are fed cumin. The animals in the control group that were not fed cumin did develop cancerous tumors. Cumin seeds work as an antioxidant that helps the immune system to keep free radicals out of the body.

Cumin in drinks

There are many ways to use cumin in the kitchen to add extra flavor to drinks and meals. You can add cumin seeds to a homemade tea spice mix. You can use ground cumin to give coffee an extra dimension of flavor. Read more coffee variations here. Cumin seeds in whole or pounded form are also good to use in a vegetable smoothie. To extract extra flavor from a cumin seed, you can first soak it for 10 minutes. In a smoothie you can combine cumin seeds with cloves, parsley, turmeric and ginger.

Cumin in food

Cumin is delicious in a cheese pancake. Mix batter with cumin and bake a pancake over which you place slices of young Dutch cheese. Alternatively, you can also mix the cheese and cumin with the batter in a blender and then make a pancake. Of course you can also use Leiden Cheese or cumin cheese. Cumin is also a nice spice to use in bread dough if you bake your own bread.

Crushed cumin seeds

Traditionally, cumin is used in Indian cuisine in all kinds of curry and vegetable dishes. For this it is wise to use pounded cumin seeds. You can pound cumin seeds in a mortar. You can also buy ground cumin seeds loose. This is often called Djinten, which is the Indonesian name for cumin. In Indonesian cuisine, this herb is also used for sauces and marinades. Djinten has a shorter shelf life than cumin seeds themselves.

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