Ajwain or Ajowan caraway, better known as carom seed in the western cuisines, is a tiny yellowish roughly oval seed of the carom plant widely used in the Indian and Western Asian cuisines in small quantities as a spice in some dishes. The plant to which the seeds belong is also called Ajwain. The strong pungency of these seeds, which bear a resemblance to thyme or caraway seeds, also commonly known as Bishops Weed (which is a misnomer for the food item) limits their extensive usage in quantity in the dishes in which it is used and also in the number of recipes in which it can be included. Ajwain dishes can be consumed without any restrictions by people suffering from digestive problems as the spice is known to be a powerful digestive aid. Popular ajwain recipes include pakoras( fried gram-flour snacks made including ajwain as one of the ingredients), as a tempering ingredient in Indian accompaniment dishes like dals and some vegetables, Indian breads (rotis and parathas) and a lot of region-specific dishes.
Discovery of Ajowan Caraway
Ajwain, though used to a large extent by the Indian cuisine in the times, it was actually discovered first in Egypt and Middle Eastern countries where it was used by the Iranian, and Afghan cuisines and at times in the berbere recipes. The Rajasthani and Gujrati Indian cuisines are known to make good use of the spice in comparison to the other cuisines of the country. The spice is also used quite extensively by other cuisines of the Indian subcontinent.
Culinary Uses of Carom Seeds
Ajwain is used in the Indian cuisine for making a number of main course, accompaniment and snack dishes. It is also an important ingredient of digestive preparations, which may be appetizer drinks( made in combination with cumin which is another well acclaimed digestive aid) or dry mixes meant to be eaten in small quantities with cooked rice as a first course during meal time.
Popular Ajwain Recipes
Ajwain is used in most of the Indian cuisines. Some popular Ajwain dishes are prepared as shown:
Health Benefits of Carom Seeds
Ajwain is mainly consumed for its medicinal properties. It is used as whole seeds, in the crushed or powdered forms and in roasted, fried or raw form, mostly in combination with other ingredients as a dry or wet solid preparation or a liquid to cure, prevent or alleviate certain diseases. Apart from being a good digestive aid, the Ajowan seed is used in a number of natural medications prepared for treating toothache, earache, asthma, bronchitis, foul breath, cough and sore throat.