''Elwendia persica'' is a plant

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

in the family

Apiaceae Apiaceae () or Umbelliferae is a family of mostly aromatic flowering plants named after the type genus ''Apium,'' and commonly known as the celery, carrot, or parsley family, or simply as umbellifers. It is the 16th-largest family of flowering p ...

. It is related to

cumin Cumin (, ; ; ''Cuminum cyminum'') is a flowering plant in the family Apiaceae, native to the Irano-Turanian Region. Its seeds – each one contained within a fruit, which is dried – are used in the cuisines of many cultures in both whole ...

(''Cuminum cyminum'') and sometimes called black cumin, blackseed, or black caraway, and has a smoky, earthy taste. It is often confused with ''

Nigella sativa ''Nigella sativa'' (common names, black caraway, black cumin, nigella or kalonji) is an annual flowering plant in the family Ranunculaceae, native to western Asia (Arabia, the Levant, Cyprus, Turkey, Iran and Iraq), and eastern Europe (Bulgari ...

'' (which is also called black cumin, black caraway, or black seed), by which it is often substituted in cooking. Dried ''E. persica''

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants (angiosperms) that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which angiosperms disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particular have long propaga ...

s are used as a culinary

spice In the culinary arts, a spice is any seed, fruit, root, Bark (botany), bark, or other plant substance in a form primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices are distinguished from herbs, which are the leaves, flowers, or stems of pl ...

in northern

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

Tajikistan Tajikistan, officially the Republic of Tajikistan, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Dushanbe is the capital city, capital and most populous city. Tajikistan borders Afghanistan to the Afghanistan–Tajikistan border, south, Uzbekistan to ...

, and

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

. It is practically unknown outside these areas.

Etymology

Local names for that spice are ''kala zeera'' ( ''black cumin'') or ''shahi zeera'' (; ''imperial cumin'') in

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

, as ''syah zirah'' (; ''black cumin''), ''kaala zirah'' (; ''black cumin''), and ''zirah kuhi'' (; ''mountain/wild cumin'') in

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

, ''zireh kuhi'' (; ''wild cumin'') in

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

, and ''siyoh dona'' (; ''black seed'') in

Tajiki Tajik, Tajik Persian, Tajiki Persian, also called Tajiki, is the variety of Persian language, Persian spoken in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan by ethnic Tajiks. It is closely related to neighbouring Dari of Afghanistan with which it forms a dialect co ...

, and in Malayalam ''sahajīrakaṁ'' (). The commonly used Hindi term ''shahi zeera'' may be a distortion of ''syahi'' (black in Persian) ''zeera''. However, in the

Hindustani language Hindustani is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in North India and Pakistan as the lingua franca of the region. It is also spoken by the Deccani people, Deccani-speaking community in the Deccan plateau. Hindustani is a pluricentric language w ...

, the term ''syahi'' also means "inky black". In Bengali, ''kalo zeera'' also means black cumin, but refers to ''Nigella'', not ''E. persica''. '' Nigella'' is widely used as a spice in Bengali food.

Uses

The plant bears slender, elongate, ribbed fruits which are harvested once the plant has become very dry. Not more than 5 to 8 g can be plucked from each plant, contributing to their high price. The seeds are most valued as a garnish to high value, very special Indian dishes; they should not be ground, as their flavour would be reduced.

Gallery

Blackcuminseeds.jpg, A pinch of the slender fruits juxtaposed with a one cent coin for scale File:Black Cumin.jpg, Close-up of slender seed-like fruits (

mericarp A schizocarp is a dry fruit that, when mature, splits up into mericarps. There are different definitions: * Any dry fruit composed of multiple carpels that separate. : Under this definition the mericarps can contain one or more seeds (the ...

References

External links

Apioideae Flora of Central Asia Flora of Western Asia Flora of the Indian subcontinent Spices Indian spices Taxa named by Pierre Edmond Boissier Plants described in 1844 {{Apiaceae-stub