Black caraway is an unknown spice in Hungarian cuisine, perhaps because it is native to southern Europe and North Africa. When I first encountered it, it was sprinkled on some of the pastries in a Turkish restaurant. I was immediately taken by its interesting flavour, but I didn't use it in my kitchen for a long time, fearing, in fact, the family's disapproval.
But it tastes very exciting, and what the literature says about it is even more exciting.
Black caraway or black cumin (Nigella Sativa) is believed to have medicinal properties in many ancient cultures, including Ayurveda and Islamic medicine, Unani (Persian-Arabic traditional medicine) and Siddha (ancient Indian medicine).
Black seeds and the oil extracted from them have been widely used for a wide variety of ailments. Today, research has demonstrated its versatile medicinal properties and it is considered one of the most important medicinal plants in evidence-based medicine. It has proven anti-diabetic, anti-cancer, immune system regulating, analgesic, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, antispasmodic, bronchodilator, hepatoprotective, kidney protective, stomach protective, antioxidant properties.
And the fact that it's also delicious is an added bonus...
I sprinkled the black cumin on this bread mainly for the flavour, but of course I'm happy if it has all the positive effects on us. I mixed flaxseed and sesame seeds into the dough itself, because of course they have a lot of good qualities as well as being delicious. The recipe is from my cookbook "Simply Delicious", yeast wheat bread made from three types of wheat: winter, spelt, and durum... heavenly... a real fattening cure...
A review on therapeutic potential of Nigella sativa: A miracle herb, Asian Pac J Trop Biomed. 2013 May; 3(5): 337-352.
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