Ajwain umbel
In the essential oil distilled from aerial parts (flowers, leaves) of
ajwain grown in Algeria, however, isothymol (50%) was found to be the dominant
constituent before p-cymene, thymol, limonene and γ-terpinene.
Note, however, that the name isothymol is not well defined and might refer to
both 2-isopropyl-4-methylphenol and 3-isopropyl-6-methylphenol (carvacrol).
(Journal of Essential Oil Research, 15, 39, 2003)
From South Indian ajwain fruits, almost pure thymol has been isolated (98%),
but the leaf oil was found to be composed of monoterpenoids and
sesquiterpenoids: 43% cadinene, 11% longifolene, 5% thymol, 3% camphor
and others.
(Indian Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences, 64, 250, 2002)
Origin
Eastern Mediterranean, maybe Egypt
The main cultivation areas today are Persia and India, but the spice is of
little importance in global trade.
There is speculation whether a plant mentioned in the
Capitulare de villis (see
lovage) of Charlemagne might be ajwain;
I think this is quite improbable, although I found out by experiment
that ajwain can be grown in Central European climate.
Trachyspermum copticum/Apium graveolens/Carum roxburghianum: Seeds of ajwain, radhuni and celery
Three similar and often confused spices: Fruits of ajwain (upper left),
radhuni (upper right) and
celery (lower half). 600 dpi scan.
Etymology
English ajwain or ajwan is just the romanized spelling of the Hindi
name ajvan [अजवायन, अजवान].
Most European languages have similar names, although the spelling is
sometimes varied, e. g., in Dutch ajowan or German Adiowan.
The Hindi name can be traced back to Sanskrit yavanaka [यवनक]
or yavani [यवानी],
which is derived from the adjective yavana [यवन] Greek
.
Modern Northern and Southern Indian names like
Nepali javano [जवानो],
Gujarati yavano [યવણો],
Bengali jowan [জোয়ান],
Punjabi aijavain [ਐਜਵਾਇਨ]
and Tamil omam [ஓமம்] have the same source.
This suggests that
the spice originated from the Eastern Mediterranean and arrived in
India in the course of the Greek conquest of Central Asia.
The Sanskrit term yavana for Greece
belongs to the same kin as
Arabic al-Yunan [اليونان],
Tajiki Yunon [Юнон],
Armenian Hounastan [Հունաստան],
Azeri Yunanıstan
and Hebrew yavan [יוון],
which all derive from the name of a Greek tribe, the Ionians (classical name Iones [Ἱώες]
contracted from Iaones [Ἱάονες],
archaic Iavones [Ἱάϝονες]).
Another group of names for ajwain is derived from
Sanskrit ajamoda [अजमोद] or
ajamodika [अजमोदिका].
Examples in modern Indian languages include Kannada ajamoda [ಅಜಮೋದ]
and Sinhala asamodagam [අසමෝදගම්].
However, very similar or even identical names are often used for another,
related Indian spice (Trachyspermum/Carum roxburghianum), which is known
in Bengal cuisine as radhuni [রাধুনি]
(see also nigella). Radhuni is
often confounded with celery, and the latter takes
the name of the former in some Indian languages because the two plants
have very similar flavour. Note also that celery and parsley
are not much discriminated in India; so Hindi and Urdu ajmud [अजमूद, اجمود]
may mean both parsley
and celery
. To make things worse, the fruits (seeds)
of all these plants look very similar, giving rise to further complications.
That Indian name was also transferred to Ethiopia as azmud [አዝሙድ],
which is, however, used to designate two different plants: Ajwain is termed
netch azmud [ነጭ አዝሙድ] white azmud
,
whereas tiqur azmud [ጥቁር አዝሙድ] black azmud
means nigella.
Trachyspermum ammi: Ajwain flowers close-up
Ajwain flowers
Some European and Western Asian languages relate ajwain to Egypt:
Turkish mısır anason Egyptian anise
or
Finnish koptilainen kumina Coptic caraway
.
Indeed, there is ajwain cultivation in Egypt, but it is not certain whether
ajwain was originally native to Egypt. Note the seemingly similar Slovak name
egyptská čierna rasca Egyptian black caraway
which,
however, does not refer to ajwain but to nigella.
I cannot explain the Arabic name
al-kamun al-muluki [الكمون الملوكي] cumin of the king
.
Yet there is an interesting parallel in the materia medica
of Dioskurides: The description of a herb ammios [ἄμμιος]
comes very close to ajwain, and Dioskurides remarks that the plant
is also known as Ethiopian or Royal cumin
.
Old German pharmaceutical catalogues often name ajwain as
Königskümmel king’s caraway
which is probably derived from either of these two sources. Quite typically for
older German herbal literature, there is confusion between cumin and caraway.
Note that the term royal cumin
(or imperial cumin
) may also be
used for a rare Indian spice which I prefer to call
black cumin.
The motivation behind the English name bishop’s weed is not clear to me.
In any case, this name should best be avoided as it is also used for other
plants of the Apiaceae family, e. g.,
Aegopodium podagraria (also known as ground elder or goutweed)
and Ammi visnaga, which is more often known as toothpickweed
or by its Arabic name, khella [خلة].
Selected Links
Indian Spices: Ajowan (indianetzone.com)
The Epicentre: Ajowan
Francesco Sirene: Spices & Herbs (Catalogue)
American Spice Company: Ajowan (Bishop’s Weed)
Herbie’s Spices: Ajowan
World Merchants: Ajwain
Gewürzkontor Condimento: Ajowan
Gewürz-Bazar: Ajowan
The Spice House: Ajowan
Altes Gewürzamt: Ajowan
INDU-Versand
Trachyspermum copticum: Ajwain plant in Nepal
Ajwain plant
Carum copticum/Trachyspermum copticum: Ajwain plant
Ajwain (flowering plant)
Ajwain is not very common in our days; its usage
is almost confined to Central Asia and Northern India, particularly the
North West (Punjab, Gujarat). It is also part of the Bihari and Nepali variant of
panch phoran (see
nigella).
The strong aroma is enhanced by toasting or frying and goes well with potatoes
or fish. Legumes (lentils, beans) are, however, the most important field of
application; in India, where these vegetables are popular since they provide a
source of protein to the many vegetarians, they are commonly flavoured with a
perfumed butter or vegetable oil (tarka also rendered tadka [तड़का].
This seemingly simple preparation is much more sophisticated than sheer heat treatment, since most aroma
compounds in spices are lipophilic and dissolve much better in fat than in
water. Thus, frying in butter not only enhances the fragrance because of the
high temperature, but also extracts the flavour to the fat, whence it can be
dispersed throughout the food efficiently. That techique is often generally known
as baghar [बघार],
and it forms almost the heart of North Indian cooking (for more, see onion).
A typical recipe for lentils would run as follows: First, the dried and
washed lentils are cooked until tender with
turmeric being the only spice added. This
lentil puree is then flavoured using salt and the tadka:
Cumin, chiles and/or ajwain seeds are fried until they turn brown
and evolve a strong aroma; if desired, garlic or asafetida and possibly grated ginger are added and after some more frying the tadka is poured over the cooked lentils. Variants may also employ
dill fruits, nigella seeds or
celery fruits, although the latter are not very Indian. See chives for a Nepali variant.
Trachyspermum copticum: Flowering ajwain plant
Ajwain plant with flowers
In Southern Indian cuisine (which has a large treasure of vegetarian recipes),
tadka-like preparations are not only applied to dried legumes,
but also to green vegetables and boiled rice. Most popular for this purpose are
black mustard seeds which are fried until they stop
popping and curry leaves, which are fried for but
a few seconds. Besides clarified butter, coconut
fat is common.
In some parts of India, ajwain is is used for specific types of salty pastry,
e. g., the Rajasthani biscuits called mathari [मठरी].
I have seen similar ajwain-flavoured pastry in Ladakh and Nepal (nimki [निम्की]).
Outside of the Indian subcontinent, ajwain is not much used.
It enjoys, however, some popularity in the Arabic world and is
found in berbere, a spice mixture of
Ethiopia which both shows Indian and Arabic heritage (see long pepper).
Ajwain is much used as a medical plant in Ayurvedic medicine (India). Mainly,
it helps against diseases of the digestive tract and fever. In India, where any
amount of tap water can result in arbitrary complications, ajwain often comes
to the traveller’s rescue: Just chew one spoonful of the fruits for a few minutes
and wash down with hot water. In the West, thymol
is used in medicines against cough and throat irritation.
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