17 Amazing
Cumin Pairings
For You To Try
Adam A
·
April 10, 2021
The backbone of many good curries, cumin is one of the more intense spices whose smell is unmistakable. It is earthy and musty, somewhat nutty and piney but also a little zesty to keep you on your toes.
Its heavy earthy notes can help deepen and ground the other lighter flavors in your dish. Vegetable dishes such as vegetable soups can be dramatically transformed by simply adding a teaspoon of cumin.
I do just that when making a simple soup out of pumpkins and onions. The cumin really helps to deepen the flavors and creates an epic soul food dish for a cold winter’s day.
What goes well with Cumin?
After spending hours scouring recipe books and conducting tasting experiments, I've found the following flavor pairings all go well with Cumin. Click on any match to view its flavor matches.
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Apricot
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Beetroot
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Black Bean
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Cauliflower
E.g. Aloo Gobi .I used to spend most of my school's summer holidays visiting my relatives in Pakistan which would always involve doing a round of visits to relatives houses and being welcomed with tons of great food.
One dish I would always look forward to was my auntie's Aloo Gobi curry which is a traditional dish of fried cauliflower and potatoes spiced with cumin, ginger, tumeric and several other spices along with some serious amounts of oil. The flavor that stands out the most however, is the cumin whose brown roasted seeds cling to the other ingredients.
The dish sort of became an annual tradition. No visit to aunties would be complete without the aloo gobi, a plate of chapati and a jug of homemade lemonade to wash it down. Great days.
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Chickpea
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Coriander Leaf
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Coriander Seed
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Cucumber
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Lamb
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Lemon
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Lentils
E.g. Middle-eastern lentil soup.I can’t think of a better example of this pairing than the classic middle-eastern lentil soup. Brown earthly lentils with sharp, zesty, warming cumin makes for an amazing winter warming soup. Watch how to make it on MiddleEats.
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Mango
Why this pairing works:These two require no effort to fuse. All just sprinkled a little cumin powder onto a slice of mango, and it tasted great. I found mango's lush tropical sweetness to contrast nicely with cumin's smoky flavors, and cumin provided a little zing with its zesty notes. Great for chutneys.
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Mint
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Pork
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Potato
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Spinach
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Squash / Pumpkin