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Nigella Seed Organic / Organic Black Cumin Kalonji

Description Price Quantity
Organic Nigella Seed - Black Seed / Cumin 50g £2.95
Nigella Seed Organic / Organic Black Cumin Kalonji View larger Image

Organic nigella is also sometimes known as organic black caraway, organic black cumin, organic black cummin , organic black seed , organic black onion seed charnushka or kalonji. Organic nigella seeds are black seeds and have a nutty and slightly smoky, peppery flavour, together with a crunchy texture.  Organic nigella is popular in Indian cooking (often as an ingredient of garam masala) and on Jewish rye bread in New York.  


Nigella comes from the annual plant, Nigella sativa.  Nigella grows to 30-60cm high (12-24 inches), and has wispy, gray-green leaves.  Nigella flowers consist of five blue or white petals that are about 25mm (1 inch) in diameter.  Later, nigella produces spiky capsules a little like poppy seed heads, within which there are five seed-bearing compartments that are crowned by vertical, prominent spikes.  When the seeds are ripe, they shatter and disperse many tiny, jet-black seeds; the nigella seeds are angular, tear-shaped seeds of 3mm in length (1/8 inch) with a cream-coloured centre.  To harvest the seeds, the seed capsules are harvested prior to ripening, then when dried they are threshed to remove the seeds.  Nigella seeds do not have a strong smell, although a newly opened sack as a definite nutty and oily aroma.  The flavour of nigella seeds is similarly nutty, but also a mild peppery and metallic flavour.  For more on nigella, look at Gernot Katzer's Spice Pages.


Nigella is important in Middle Eastern cookery due to it being linked to Muhammad (peace be upon him) as he said "Use the Black Seed for indeed, it is a cure for all diseases except death." (Saheeh al-Bukharee 7:591).  It is also mentioned in the Bible in Isaiah "For the Black Cumin is beaten out with a stick and the cumin with a rod."  Nigella is used in Turkish and Indian bread, like naan, and is an essential ingredient of panch phora.  I think they are great lightly dry roasted and fried with potatoes, for example aloo panch phoran (potatoes with five seeds mix), or dispersed through rice or green vegetables after being lightly dry roasted.  For more ideas on how to use nigella, look at Allrecipes India (note that nigella is called kalonji).


Steenbergs organic nigella is part of our core range of over 400 organic spices, organic pepper, organic herbs, organic flavoured sugars, organic extract and bakery flavours and a growing list of exclusive teas.  For your local stockist click on "Where to see us", or call 01765 640088 or email to enquiries@steenbergs.co.uk.

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