Cumin Seeds

This is another spice we use in our everyday cooking. Cumin is good for digestion. This is also known as Jeera in Hindi and Seeragam(seer+Agam) in Tamil. Agam means human body; Seer means making it healthy. Thats why we use this in most of our recipes. Cumin is hotter to the taste, lighter in colour. In olden days, in order to induce labour, people used to drink cumin tea or cumin hot water (From my grandma's experience). Also cumin hot water is used to reduce stomach ache during periods. First fry the 1 tbsp cumin to golden brown. Then grind it into a fine powder. Add it to 2 cups of water and bring it to boil. Bring the boiling water to one cup. This one cup cumin is consumed with a teaspoon of honey during stomach ache (my personal experience).

Cumin seeds, whose scientific name is Cuminum cyminum, are a very good source of iron, a mineral that plays many vital roles in the body. Cumin seeds have traditionally been noted to be of benefit to the digestive system, and scientific research is beginning to bear out cumin's age-old reputation. Research has shown that cumin may stimulate the secretion of pancreatic enzymes, compounds necessary for proper digestion and nutrient assimilation. Cumin seeds may also have anti-carcinogenic properties. Cumin is available both in its whole seed form and ground into a powder. (source:www.whfoods.com)

Cumin seeds Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
Energy 370 kcal 1570 kJ
Carbohydrates 44.24 g - Sugars 2.25 g - Dietary fiber 10.5 g Fat 22.27 g - saturated 1.535 g - monounsaturated 14.04 g - polyunsaturated 3.279 g Protein 17.81 g Water 8.06 g Vitamin A equiv. 64 μg 7% Thiamin (Vit. B1) 0.628 mg 48% Riboflavin (Vit. B2) 0.327 mg 22% Niacin (Vit. B3) 4.579 mg 31% Vitamin B6 0.435 mg 33% Folate (Vit. B9) 10 μg 3% Vitamin B12 0 μg 0% Vitamin C 7.7 mg 13% Vitamin E 3.33 mg 22% Vitamin K 5.4 μg 5% Calcium 931 mg 93% Iron 66.36 mg 531% Magnesium 366 mg 99% Phosphorus 499 mg 71% Potassium 1788 mg 38% Sodium 168 mg 11% Zinc 4.8 mg 48%
Percentages are relative to US recommendations for adults. Source: USDA Nutrient database

source:-www.Wikipedia.org