Nigella sativa

nigella • kalonji • black seed

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Nigella sativa L. (Ranunculaceae); nigella (Afrikaans); kamun aswad, shuniz (Arabic); pei hei zhong cao (Chinese); nigelle, poivrette, cumin noire (French); Schwarzkümmel (German); kalonji, kala jeera (Hindi); cuminella (Italian); cyah-daneh (Persian); nigela (Portuguese); niguiella, ajenuz común (Spanish); çörek otu (Turkish)

DESCRIPTION The ripe seeds are typically black in colour (hence the name Nigella, a diminutive form of the word “black”), strongly angular in shape, with a rough surface, a thyme-like aroma and a slightly bitter taste. The seeds are sometimes referred to as “onion seeds” or “black cumin” (kala jeera) but these names are confusing. Black cumin more accurately refers to Bunium persicum (See Notes under Cuminum cyminum). The names nigella and kalonji are less ambiguous.

THE PLANT The plant (fennel flower)1 is an erect annual herb of about 0.3 m (ca. 1 ft) high with compound leaves and attractive white or pale blue flowers. The segmented fruit capsules and persistent styles are distinctive.

ORIGIN Mediterranean region and western Asia. It has been domesticated in ancient times in the Middle East and seeds were found in Tutankhamen’s tomb.1,2 The seeds are still very important as condiment, general tonic and traditional medicine in Arabia, Egypt, India and Pakistan and are sometimes referred to in Arabic as Habbatul barakah (“seed of blessing”). It was once an important spice in southern and central Europe (“fitches” in English1 or quatre-épices or toute-épices in French).3

CULTIVATION Seeds are easy to germinate. Plants are tolerant of cold and some drought but require full sun to flourish.

HARVESTING The ripe seed capsules are harvested before they split open. They are then dried and the seeds extracted mechanically or by hand.

CULINARY USES The aromatic and pungent seeds are an important spice and are traditionally sprinkled over cakes and breads, such as Indian naan bread (especially Peshawari naan), Turkish çörek buns and Bosnian somun pastries. It is also used to flavour spicy dishes. The Bengali and East Indian spice mixture called panch phoran (“five spices”) is a mixture of the seeds of nigella, black mustard, cumin, fennel and fenugreek in equal parts. The black mustard may be replaced with radhuni (Bunium roxburghianum) or celery seed. The mixture is never ground but always used as whole seeds (often tempered in a little oil or ghee) in curries, vegetable dishes and pickles.

FLAVOUR COMPOUNDS The aroma of the seeds resembles thyme and oregano due to the presence of thymol and thymoquinone in the essential oil.4 The oil appears to be highly variable and may sometimes have p-cymene, carvacrol and α-thujene as major compounds.4 Thymoquinone apparently gets converted to thymol. The presence of an aromatic alkaloid, nigelline (= damascenine) has also been reported.5

NOTES Nigella damascena (love-in-a-mist) is a very attractive blue-flowered species and popular garden plant. It is called chernushka in Russian and the seeds are used to flavour breads and cheeses in Russia, Poland, Turkey and the Balkan region.

1. Mabberley, D.J. 2008. Mabberley’s plant-book (3rd ed.). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

2. Zohary, D., Hopf, M. 2000. Domestication of plants in the Old World (3rd ed.). Clarendon Press, Oxford.

3. Larousse. 1999. The concise Larousse gastronomique. Hamlyn, London.

4. Benkaci-Ali, F., Baaliouamer, A., Meklati, B.Y., Chemat, F. 2007. Chemical composition of seed essential oils from Algerian Nigella sativa extracted by microwave and hydrodistillation. Flavour and Fragrance Journal 22: 148–153.

5. Franke, W. 1997. Nutzpflanzenkunde. George Thieme Verlag, Stuttgart.