Cumin Seeds

[Clementine]

So... my boyfriend accidentally bought me a jar of whole cumin seeds, rather than the ground stuff, when I asked him to pick some "cumin" at the store.

Is there something I can do with the seeds? Or do I just need to find a way to grind them myself?


(I have since purchased regular ground cumin so I don't need that, I'm just trying to not have the seeds go to waste.)

[diablita]

I have whole cumin seeds for this recipe: bhindi masala

[caribougrrl]

I only buy cumin whole... stays fresh longer, more versatile because you can grind, crack, or leave whole as needed.  I use enough cumin though that I have a grinder dedicated to it (a hand grinder, similar to a pepper grinder), which I mostly do a coarse grind with for things like fresh salsa, seasoning soups, popcorn, eggs, etc.

A lot of indian food (and indian spiced food) uses whole cumin seed... toasting it completely changes the flavour and is better in some dishes than untoasted, but it's very tricky to toast ground cumin.

[MikoftheWat]

toast and grind.  I love cumin

[Clementine]

toast and grind.  I love cumin

I will do that should my ground cumin ever happen to disappear behind the stove.