Description, composition and calorie content of black cumin. The benefits and harms of the fruits of the plant for the body. Cooking recipes that reveal all the spice notes. Interesting facts about the favorite of French monarchs and simple housewives.
Useful properties of blackberry sowing
We will not be mistaken if we say that nigella is a real find for a gourmet. Its spicy taste subtly sets off many dishes, giving them an exquisite touch, completing the gastronomic ensemble. But gourmets value this plant not only for its taste, but also for the incredible effect that regular consumption of the fruits of the blackberry sowing has on the human body.
Pampering yourself with dishes with this spice, you will get the following benefits:
- Treatment of gastrointestinal diseases … Nigella seed oil, which is often added to baked goods, is an excellent anti-inflammatory agent. It helps to heal wounds with gastroduodenitis and ulcerative lesions of the stomach and duodenum, cope with reflux, and normalize acidity.
- Improving well-being in diabetics … Eating nigella seeds instead of pepper can help normalize the pancreas, which makes this product extremely useful for diabetics. It also interferes with the absorption of glucose in the intestines, fights against such serious consequences of diabetes mellitus as neuropathy and osteoporosis.
- Getting rid of parasites … Helminths and other parasites fear the spice like fire.
- Neutralization of complications after poisonous insect bites … Of course, physicians should provide qualified assistance with bites of poisonous snakes and insects. But after specific therapy (use of serum and antiallergic drugs), a recovery period follows, during which nigella is relevant. Dishes with it will relieve pain and itching at the sites of the bites, as well as reduce swelling at the sites of the lesions.
- Improving skin condition … Spice is an excellent remedy for "hanging warts", papillomas. It also helps to cope with acne, demadecosis, acne and other skin imperfections.
- Non-surgical treatment of urolithiasis and kidney stones … Regular use of the seeds of the plant in food helps in crushing and removing small stones from the kidneys and bladder, which makes it possible to avoid surgery.
- Lowering blood pressure, preventing strokes and thrombosis … Helps hypertensive patients to normalize blood pressure, cleanses blood vessels from cholesterol plaques. A pleasant addition to this is the prevention of strokes and blood clots.
- Blocking the development of cancer cells … This will help such a component of the seeds as thymoquinone. It is especially effective in the prevention of pancreatic neoplasms.
- Improving lactation … Breastfeeding mothers often resort to various methods to increase the amount of milk, including the use of chemistry. This is completely optional. Nigella seed tea, taken 15-20 minutes before feeding the baby, will help improve secretion and significantly increase the amount of milk. It has a pleasant taste, is used not only as a remedy, but primarily as a pleasant drink.
- Intoxication prevention … Seed oil is also known for this interesting feature. If you take a tablespoon of this product in its pure form before a feast, it forms a specific film in the stomach, which will prevent the direct ingress of alcohol into the blood. Some people use this technique with any other vegetable oil, but it is not as effective as using nigella oil.
Harm and contraindications to black cumin
The use of black cumin in small quantities in gastronomy and in recommended doses for medicinal purposes cannot do any harm to health. However, there are groups of people who are better off refraining from getting to know this plant:
- Pregnant … Black cumin seeds are capable of causing uterine contractions, which can cause hypertonia and even provoke premature birth. But immediately after them, provided that the child is artificially fed, the ability of nigella to cause uterine contraction will have a positive healing effect.
- Large stones in the bladder and kidneys … As we noted above, the use of nigella promotes the crushing and removal of small stones from the bladder and kidneys. But if a large stone is touched during the course, which the plant could not crush, this can lead to sad consequences.
- Patients with gastrointestinal ailments in the acute stage … The same product in different variations can both help and harm. Seed oil heals, but if you abuse ground nigella seeds for gastronomic purposes, you can get serious irritation of the mucous membrane and aggravate the course of gastrointestinal diseases.
- Suffering from low blood pressure … The ability of this spice to reduce pressure is widely known. It is highly discouraged to use spice for hypotonic patients.
Most spices and seasonings are contraindicated in children under 12 years of age. But black cumin can be added to food from the age of three. Of course, in limited quantities, but if there is a need to diversify a boring and tasteless dish, do it without fear of harming the baby.
Recipes for dishes with sowing nigella
Black cumin is used in cooking in several variations. The easiest way is to add whole seeds to meals. If you want to make the taste more aromatic and rich, it is worth grinding the fruit or crushing it in a mortar. For this, housewives use electric or mechanical coffee grinders, mortars made of wood or stone. The ground spice, like many other spices, is stored in a hermetically sealed opaque container, avoiding high temperatures and high humidity.
In addition to seeds, nigella flowers are used in cooking. Their mistresses are brewed in the form of tea. The aroma of such a drink is simply incomparable - spicy, invigorating, cozy. An excellent means of warming up on cold autumn and winter evenings. Pour boiling water over 1 tablespoon of flowers, let it brew, add sugar, honey, jam to taste.
Black cumin will add flavor to the following dishes:
- Pumpkin Cream Soup … Pour 50 ml of vegetable oil into a deep saucepan, add 2 medium chopped onions to it, grated on a coarse grater of carrots. When the vegetables are salvaged, send a few finely chopped potatoes and 300 g pumpkin to them. Pour in 1 liter of vegetable or meat broth, cover, cook until vegetables are fully cooked. Then drain the liquid, chop the vegetables with a blender until smooth, return it to the broth, add 200 ml of milk or 100 ml of low-fat cream, a pinch of paprika, salt, grated ginger, dry garlic and 1 tablespoon of soy sauce. Cover with a lid and simmer for a couple of minutes. When serving, sprinkle generously with nigella seeds on top.
- Spicy bird … Take a medium-sized chicken. Rinse, let dry well. Cut and tear 2 large apples and 2 oranges into wedges. Sprinkle them with 1 teaspoon of ground nigella, add 2 tablespoons of soy sauce, stir. Salt the chicken from the inside, fill with fruit. Rub the outside of the bird with ground nigella. Take a baking sheet or a large shallow iron pot, pour one and a half centimeters of table salt on the bottom. Lay the chicken back down on it. Do not salt the outside of the bird, it will take from the bottom as much salt as it needs. Bake in 210 ° C oven until crisp and golden brown. Salt oiled with chicken fat and spice can be added to soups in the future to enhance flavor and aroma.
- Fish with white sauce … Choose fish to taste - carp, silver carp, pike perch, trout. Peel it, gut it, cut it into portions, salt. Fry in vegetable oil, pre-roll in flour. Take 200 g of low-fat sour cream. Add 1 tablespoon of white sho in it, 1 teaspoon of ginger, 1 teaspoon of Chernushki seeds. Let the sauce steep for 10-15 minutes, serve a little chilled with the fish.
- Spiced Golden Rice … Pour 75 ml of unrefined olive oil and 20 g of butter into a frying pan. When it warms up, send 300 g of frozen green peas there, fry for 10 minutes over medium heat. Add a bunch of chopped green onions, a pinch of salt, black pepper, coriander and 1 teaspoon of turmeric. Stir, cook covered for another 10 minutes. Boil rice separately in salted water. Combine it in a skillet with peas, add a clove of finely chopped garlic and 1 teaspoon of ground nigella seeds. Cover and simmer for another 5 minutes.
- Cartographers with cabbage … Put 500 g of sauerkraut in a skillet with hot sunflower oil. Pour a glass of hot water over it and simmer until the cabbage is tender. Boil 500 g of potatoes in their uniforms. Peel it, crush, salt, add 1 egg, 1 tablespoon of wheat flour and 1 tablespoon of sunflower oil. Mix well. Form small balls, which are then rolled into tortillas. Put the cooled cabbage filling in the center of the tortilla, pull the potato dough to the center. Place the parchment pots on a baking sheet covered with parchment, brush with an egg. Mix 2 teaspoons of white sesame seeds with 1 teaspoon of nigella seeds and sprinkle liberally on each pie. Bake in an oven preheated to 180 ° C for 10-15 minutes, until golden brown.
- Fragrant pickled cucumbers … Rinse 1.5 kg of cucumbers in running water. It is worth choosing vegetables of medium size, with pimples, without voids inside. Cut the ponytails, soak the cucumbers in cool water for 3, 5-4 hours. In a glass bottle or enamel pot, layer them with a few horseradish leaves, dill umbrellas, and a disassembled head of garlic. Prepare a brine from 1.5 liters of cold water, 2 tablespoons of salt and 1 teaspoon of nigella, pour cucumbers over them. Cover with a leaky lid (to release gases), put in a dry, dark place for 2-3 days. The cucumbers are crispy and spicy.
- Dessert with persimmon … Pour 5 g of gelatin with 100 ml of orange juice, leave to swell. Grind one ripe persimmon in a blender until smooth. Dissolve the gelatin in the juice in a water bath. Add 1 teaspoon honey and 1 tablespoon nigella oil. Combine all ingredients and beat with a mixer on high speed until the mass is doubled. Pour the mousse into molds, refrigerate until solid. Serve with a mint leaf.
Interesting facts about black cumin
Chernushka sowing is such a noble plant that in the Middle Ages, French monarchs recommended that peasants grow this spice everywhere. Its pungent taste was a great alternative to pepper. But unlike its spicy relative, black cumin in small quantities does not irritate the stomach lining.
For a long time, the nigella was loved not only by kings, but also by simple housewives, because she helped a lot then and now to cope with household chores:
- Protects against moths … The seeds of the plant, suspended in a closet in rag bags, protect woolen fabrics and fur from clothes moths.
- Conditioning linen … Nigella leaves boiled with boiling water can be used as fabric softener. Towels, tablecloths and bedding will become softer and not electrified.
- Scares away insects … Many insects do not like the smell of nigella. Therefore, the seeds laid out in cabinets and boxes will scare off ants, Prusaks and other unwanted kitchen guests.
- Refreshes glass and mirrors … Tincture of nigella seeds on alcohol is diluted with water and poured into spray bottles. This is how an environmentally friendly, non-chemical detergent for washing glasses and mirrors is prepared.
The scientist and doctor Avicenna mentioned the use of this plant for medical purposes. However, this is not the first mention of sowing nigella. It is noted that she is remembered even in the Old Testament of the Bible. The scripture says that it was this plant that was sown in ancient times next to barley and wheat.
Watch a video about blackberry sowing:
Whether or not to grow nigella in your garden is up to you. It looks great in flower beds and on beds. But its main advantage is, of course, in the benefits rendered to the human body. Even if you don’t decide to cultivate it yourself, be sure to purchase it at a pharmacy or supermarket - the excellent taste will pleasantly surprise you, and the health effect will not be long in coming.
