Across the highlands
Golbheda Ko Achar
Fire-roasted tomatoes with sesame, timur and crisp fried garlic
45 min·4 servings
Ajwain seeds
Small ridged seeds from a plant of the carrot family, also called carom seeds. They taste strongly of thyme, sharp and slightly bitter.
Ajwain are the small, greyish-brown, ridged fruits of a plant in the carrot family, also known as carom seeds. They are rich in thymol and so taste intensely of thyme, along with a sharp, slightly bitter edge and a faint numbing effect on the tongue. Raw they are harsh; briefly fried in hot oil or ghee they turn rounder and more fragrant, which is why they usually go into the fat at the start of cooking. They are used sparingly in flatbreads, lentil and bean dishes, fried snacks and pickles. Look for them in Indian or Asian grocery shops, sometimes in Afghan or Persian shops, and from online spice suppliers, often labelled carom.
Substitute:
Dried thyme, used in a somewhat smaller amount, comes closest to the thymol flavour but lacks the sharpness, bitterness and slight numbing quality; the dish turns more herbal and gentler. Cumin or caraway are not substitutes, as they taste quite different.
Used in · 1 recipe