| Caraway seed |
| Description | |
| Caraway of commerce is
the fruit of a biennial herb. The plant has a fleshy root and slender
branched stem that attains a height of 0.5 to 0.6 mtrs, with small white
flowers in compound umbels. The fruit when ripened splits into narrow
elongated carpel, 4 to 6.5mm long, curved, pointed at ends with 5 longitudinal
ridges on the surface. The dried fruit is brown in colour has pleasant
odour is with sharp taste. Seeds are hard and sharp to touch. |
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| Origin and Distribution | |
| It is a native of North and Central Europe and is extensively cultivated in Holland, Russia, Poland, Bulgaria, Denmark, Rumania, Syria, Morocco, and to a small extent in England, and US. It is cultivated as a cold season crop in the hills of Kashmir and Kumaon at an altitude of above 2750 MSL. | |
| Uses | |
| Caraway is widely used as a spice
for culinary purposes and for flavouring bread, biscuits, cakes and cheese.
It is also used for seasoning sausages and as medicine. |
|
Botanical name |
Family name |
Commercial part |
Carum carvi |
Apiaceae |
Fruit |
| Indian Names | |
| Hindi | : Siya zira or Shia zira |
| Bengali | : Jira or Zira |
| Kannada | : Shime jeerige |
| Kashmiri | : Gunyun |
| Malayalam | : Shima jirakam |
| Marathi | : Vilaiti zirah |
| Sindhi | : Kalu Duru |
| Punjabi | : Zira-siah |
| Sanskrit | : Sushavi |
| Tamil | : Shimai shambu |
| Telugu | : Sima jirakai |
| For more details: mail@indianspices.com |