Cumin or cumin seeds, as you may know, is a very versatile spice that could be either used as a whole or in ground form.

Ground cumin powder has a flavour profile you will find in many cuisines such as Indian, middle eastern and in most cuisines from around the world

This step-by-step guide helps you to make your own cumin powder at home, giving you a chance to use this spice powder in many of your curries.

What is cumin powder?

Cumin is the dried seed of the herb Cuminum cyminum, a parsley family member.

Being oblong in shape, longitudinally ridged, and yellow-brown in colour. (Source Wikipedia) 

You can easily identify the spice for its shape and is often confused with caraway seeds. 

Cumin with Its distinct flavour and aroma can certainly bring character to all your food.

What does cumin powder taste like?

You will find using cumin powder in any form in a dish, whether cooked, baked or used as a seasoning just elevates the dish giving it a lovely warm, earthy flavour to your food.

As cumin powder is very strong in pungency, a little goes a long way.

Take a look at the difference between store-bought cumin powder and homemade cumin powder!

Benefits of cumin in your cooking.

• The most common traditional use of cumin is for indigestion.
• Reduces inflammation.
• Improves your immunity.
• Used to treat various illnesses, from asthma to other respiratory ailments. these are only a few benefits of using cumin in your meals.

The best substitute/alternative for cumin powder.

Personally, my best choice and preference when using an alternative for cumin powder is using a teaspoon of curry powder.

Curry powder in place of cumin always works for me.

 

Recipes with cumin powder

• beef fry(Sri Lankan)
• Bombay potatoes(curried potatoes)
• aloo keema recipe(ground beef and potato curry).
• Indian tandoori fish masala (oven-baked).
• green bean curry(Sri Lankan bonchi curry).
• beef korma curry(slow-cooked Indian beef curry).
• Sri Lankan chicken curry.

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Frequently asked question: cumin

• Why you should dry roast cumin seeds.
  • If you are making your own spice blend or grinding individual spices, they need to be exposed to some kind of heat to bring the best out of them.
  • When gently dry roasted, the subtle oils in the cumin seeds(not visible to the eye) will make the cumin powder darker, releasing a fragrant aroma.
  • Removing any type of moisture also helps the spice with longer shelf life.

• Spices and herbs that go well with cumin powder.
  • Obviously coriander powder.
    • You will notice in Sri Lankan and Indian cooking cumin powder is always added with coriander powder.
    • This is because the cumin powder and coriander powder combined makes the base of thick, robust flavors for curries, especially meat dishes.
    • For best results in curries, always make sure to use a ratio close to 1:3, where for every tablespoon of cumin powder, you use 3 tablespoons of coriander powder.
    • Turmeric powder, red chilli powder, pepper, paprika, and fennel are some other spice powders that go well with cumin.
    • Oregano, thyme, Basil are some of the herbs that go well with cumin powder as well.

• Can I substitute coriander powder with cumin powder?
  • If you look up substitution for coriander powder the general advice is to use cumin powder.
  • While I would agree with this to a certain point(mostly used for your meat grilling and baking).
  • As a home cook who uses coriander powder and cumin powder for my daily cooking, I would like to state that coriander and cumin have completely different flavor profiles and you can’t always substitute these two spices.
  • Cumin is a much more pungent and stronger spice than coriander powder.
  • While you won’t usually taste coriander using it with cumin, it provides an essential base for every curry and for the cumin flavors to shine through.
  • If you are just using cumin as a coriander substitute, I would advise using 1/2 tablespoon of cumin if the recipe instructions say 1 tablespoon of coriander powder.

• What is the shelf life of cumin powder?
  • Cumin seeds have a shelf life of 1 year and cumin powder would be 6 months provided you store them in airtight containers and store them properly EVERY SINGLE TIME YOU USE IT.
  • Although cumin powder comes with an expiry date of 6 months on most labels.
  • I believe that every time we open the lid and use it a certain amount of moisture and air gets into the spice powder making it less potent in flavor.
  • So I would say, only make cumin powder to last you for 2 months and then replace it if possible.
  • This is not me encouraging you to throw away but advising you to make or buy only to last 2 months ahead of time.

• How much cumin powder should I make or buy?
  • As mentioned above buy cumin powder to last for 2 months. depending on how much you use this would be between 100g to 200g of cumin powder.

Utensils and appliances needed.

Large sieve.
A medium-sized bowl.
Platter.
Microwave-friendly plate

More curry powders

How to make coriander powder.

How to make garam masala powder

How to make Sri Lankan raw curry powder

Malaysian meat curry powder.

Sri Lankan Jaffna curry powder.

RECIPE DIFFICULTY-EASY

Cumin seeds to cumin powder

The ingredients mentioned below use standard measuring cups and spoons.

Ingredients

2 cups of raw cumin seeds

Method.

how to clean cumin seeds.

Place the cumin seeds in a large sieve.

Keep the sieve under running water, wash and pick out any impurities that you find.

Drain any excess water and place the sieve over a bowl to drain excess water.

Once in a while, gently shake the sieve to move the cumin seeds around to dry them.

3 ways to dry and gently roast cumin seeds.

• Drying the cumin seeds the natural/old way.
  • Place the washed and semi-dry cumin seeds on a tray, and place the tray under the sun to dry the cumin seeds naturally. 
  • If you are using the sun to dry the cumin seeds, make sure it’s somewhere clean, where bird droppings, traffic fumes and dust cannot get to the cumin seeds.

• Dry and gently roast the cumin seeds using the microwave.
  • Place the cumin seeds on a microwave-friendly plate or platter.
  • Microwave the cumin seeds in 30 seconds intervals for 3 minutes which will completely dry the cumin seeds.

• How to roast the cumin seeds over a stovetop.
  • Place a frying pan over low-medium heat.
  • Heat the pan for 2 minutes, add the coriander seeds and gently dry roast the seeds while continuously moving them around.
  • Transfer the cumin seeds onto a plate and let it cook (30 minutes).

How to make grind cumin seeds into powder.

Use any of the methods mentioned above to dry cumin seeds.

Once the cumin seeds have cooled down, use a coffee grinder or the spice grinder unit in your blender to grind the cumin seeds to a powder.

Use the pulse button to do this.

Grind until you have a coarse powder.

You have the option of using a sieve to separate a fine cumin powder from the coarse bits or use it as it is. 

Immediately transfer the powder into an airtight, dry, clean glass jar.

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