Cooking With Cumin

Next to salt and pepper, including red chili flakes, cumin may be the most common seasoning we use to cook with.

It is a staple in many cuisines, including Indian, African, Mexican, and Middle Eastern.

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It’s a versatile and flavorful spice that adds a warm and earthy aroma and has the capacity to improve most anything it’s paired with.

The flavor of cumin is best brought out by toasting the seeds before grinding them into a powder, releasing their essential oils and intensifying their aroma.

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Toast the seeds in a dry skillet the same way you would any other seeds or nuts, such as pumpkin seeds or walnuts.

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Cook’s Notes

If it’s convenient for you, just buy the seeds (which can last stored up to a year), then toast and grind them as needed. Use whole seeds to made this Spiced Sweet Potatoes With Cashews And Cilantro.

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Cooking With Cumin

Cumin is an essential component in many spice mixes. These include, among others:

• Garam Masala – Indian Cuisine
• Chili Powder – Mexican Cuisine
• Za’ atar – Middle Eastern Cuisine
• Ras el Hanout – Moroccan Cuisine
• Harissa – North African Cuisine

Its warm and earthy flavor adds depth and complexity to these spice mixes, making them essential in creating authentic and delicious dishes.

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Cumin pairs well with a variety of ingredients, including meats, like chicken, pork, beef, lamb, and oily fish, like this Baked Indian Spiced Salmon.

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The spice pairs well with legumes, like beans and lentils, as well as vegetables, like root vegetables, leafy greens, squash, eggplant and tomatoes, like this Mediterranean Dish Shakshuka.

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Toast the seeds and then grind with an equal quantity of salt, for sprinkling over roast chicken, tomato salad, avocado toast, tacos, or roast potatoes.

Combine cumin seeds with yogurt and lemon juice to make a dressing for roasted vegetables or a salad of bitter leaves, such as dandelion greens, mustard greens or kale.

Whether used as a seasoning for meats, a vegetable dish or to enhance the flavor in a bowl of soup or stew, like this West African Peanut Sweet Potato Stew, cooking with cumin adds a rich and complex mouth watering flavor.

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More Deliciously Yummy Recipes

• Roasted Sweet Potatoes With White Miso and Maple Syrup
• Guide To Cooking With Salt
• Fruit-Based Seasonings You Use Every Day Without Even Realizing It
• Easy Chicken Tinga Tostadas: A Flavor-Packed Mexican Classic with an Asian Twist
• Roasted Sweet Potatoes And Chickpeas with Feta, Pomegranate And Maple Tahini