Kala Zeera

Gathered from high forest slopes in Kinnaur by families with traditional collection rights.

Cleaned and sorted by hand — it arrives with twigs and grit that have to be picked out.

• GI-tagged Kinnauri wild black cumin
• Wild-gathered, never farmed
• Hand-cleaned, very small quantities

A pinch is enough. This is much stronger than ordinary jeera.

Bloom in hot ghee at the start of a dish to release the oils.

Traditional in Kashmiri and Kinnauri meat dishes, pulao, and raita.

Kala zeera is one of the few genuinely irreplaceable ingredients of Himalayan cooking — nothing else tastes like it.

Cumin seeds have long been used in Indian cooking both for flavour and as a digestive aid in traditional practice.

These are general facts about this food, not tested claims about this specific batch. We'd rather tell you what we know than invent numbers.