Ajwain

Ajwain is an annual herb of the carrot family whose seed-like fruits are used as a spice across the Indian subcontinent, Iran, Afghanistan and parts of northern Africa. The small pale brown fruits resemble caraway, cumin and fennel, taste bitter and pungent like anise and oregano, and smell of thyme because they contain thymol. They are rarely eaten raw: cooks dry-roast them or fry them in ghee to soften the flavour, often as a tarka stirred into a dish at the end of cooking, and bake them into breads such as naan and paratha. Ayurveda uses ajwain, though the page notes there is no good evidence it treats any disease. Pregnant women should avoid it, and large oral amounts can poison fatally.