Title: Roasted cumin
 Categories: Digest, Spices, Indian
      Yield: 1 Servings
 
      1 x  Raw cumin
 
  Most indians do not buy the stuff because it looses so much flavor
  (much like fresh ground pepper vs packaged ground pepper). instead,
  what i do is to buy raw cumin (ask them to sell you good quality
  "zeera" if you go to an indian store). to roast them, in a heavy
  skillet/frying pan, put in a handful (crushing them slightly by
  rubbing them between the palms of your two hands) and then over
  med-high heat roast them dry, shaking the skillet a lot, until they
  are dark brown in color (but not black, over roasting them will turn
  them black). use immediately as is. (ps: crushing the raw cumin is
  really important to bring out the nice flavor of cumin, try a
  side-by-side some time, and you'll see what i mean. this tip is
  courtesy of our family cook in india, who likes to load everything he
  cooks with cumin).
  
  For some dishes, like raita (raita == slightly whipped yougurt +
   + roasted cumin
  powder + salt + pepper) you need to powder it. what i do is to put
  the roasted cumin on my cutting board, and with a roller pin go over
  it, and they powder with almost no effort.