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Madhur Jaffrey’s Roasted Cumin Powder Recipe

Name: Madhur Jaffrey’s Roasted Cumin Powder Recipe
Cook time: 3 min
Total time: 13 min
Yield: About 2 tablespoons
Ingredients: ⅓ cup whole cumin seeds

Written by MasterClass

Last updated: Mar 3, 2022 • 1 min read

Whole spices taste completely different when they’re roasted. Heat releases aromatics from the spices, adding complexity and emboldening the spices’ flavor. “We get different shades from the same spice by doing something to the spice,” Madhur says. Roasting cumin turns the seeds into “something different, something spicier that makes your mouth water,” she says.

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What Is Roasted Cumin Powder?

Roasted cumin powder, known as bhuna jeera in Hindi, is an integral part of Indian cuisine, lending a floral, nutty aroma and tangy bite when used on its own or in blends like chaat masala and garam masala powder. Cumin (Cuminum cyminum) is a member of the parsley family, a group of flowering plants known as Umbelliferae or Apiaceae (that also includes celery, carrots, and fennel) native to Egypt and the Middle East. Cumin seeds and ground cumin powder appear not only throughout South Asian, Middle Eastern and North African cuisine, but Mexican and South American cuisine as well.

Roasted cumin seeds are spicier and nuttier than their unroasted counterparts, offering up a deep, toasty flavor that translates to a more dynamic aromatic profile when ground into a powder. Roasted cumin can be ground using a clean coffee grinder or spice grinder, a mortar and pestle, or a rolling pin. It’s best when freshly roasted but can also be stored in an airtight jar. In North India, roasted cumin is used as a garnish, sprinkled over raita or vegetables.

Madhur Jaffrey’s Roasted Cumin Powder Recipe

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makes

About 2 tablespoons

total time

13 min

cook time

3 min

Ingredients

⅓ cup whole cumin seeds

1
Warm a small cast-iron skillet or similarly heavy-bottomed frying pan over medium-low heat. When the pan is hot, add the cumin seeds and roast, stirring continuously to prevent the seeds from burning as they cook, until the seeds are a shade darker and just beginning to smoke, 2– 3 minutes.
2
Remove the pan from the heat, and quickly transfer the seeds to a bowl or a paper towel–lined plate to cool.
3
Using the paper towel as a funnel, place the seeds in a clean coffee grinder or spice grinder. Grind the seeds to a fine powder. Store the powder in an airtight container for up to 2 months.

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