1 raw cumin
Most indians do not buy the stuff because it looses so much flavor
(much like fresh ground pepper vs packaged ground pepper). instead,
what i do is to buy raw cumin (ask them to sell you good quality
"zeera" if you go to an indian store). to roast them, in a heavy
skillet/frying pan, put in a handful (crushing them slightly by
rubbing them between the palms of your two hands) and then over
med-high heat roast them dry, shaking the skillet a lot, until they
are dark brown in color (but not black, over roasting them will turn
them black). use immediately as is. (ps: crushing the raw cumin is
really important to bring out the nice flavor of cumin, try a
side-by-side some time, and you'll see what i mean. this tip is
courtesy of our family cook in india, who likes to load everything he
cooks with cumin).
For some dishes, like raita (raita == slightly whipped yougurt +
+ roasted cumin
powder + salt + pepper) you need to powder it. what i do is to put
the roasted cumin on my cutting board, and with a roller pin go over
it, and they powder with almost no effort.
bang: uunet!cadence!bammijwahar r. bammi domain: [email protected]
GEnie:J.Bammi CIS: 71515,155
From the Fatfree Digest, Vol. 8, No. 43, June 4, 1994 Formatted by Sue
Smith, S.Smith34, [email protected] using MMCONV
Serves: 1
Recipe Categories: Indian; Spicy
Buy Kitchen Utensils
Channel 4