Nigella
Nigella sativa
Black seed / kalonji. Not onion seed despite the nickname. A buttercup-family annual; the black angular seeds taste like oregano-onion-pepper. Love-in-a-mist (N. damascena) is an ornamental cousin, not the spice.
GROW → HARVEST → EAT → DRY → POWDER → CAPSULE → GUMMY — forms are not equivalent. Food first.
Identity
Also called: kalonji, black seed, black cumin (ambiguous name)
What it is
Black seed / kalonji. Not onion seed despite the nickname. A buttercup-family annual; the black angular seeds taste like oregano-onion-pepper. Love-in-a-mist (N. damascena) is an ornamental cousin, not the spice.
From the existing encyclopedia
Nigella is a dried botanical traded as cut leaf, flower, seed, or root for tea and seasoning. Cross-link pantry planning with v1 kits on the store page when this item appears in a bundle. Pairs well with garlic, onion, and black pepper in savory dishes. When substituting dried Nigella for fresh, use about one-third the volume and bloom in fat or hot water before adding acid or dairy.
Edible portions
- seeds
Absence of a portion from this list means it is not treated as food here — not that every other part is toxic.
Growing
- Climate. Annual
- Light. Full sun
- Soil. Well-drained
- Planting. Direct-sow; dislikes transplanting.
- Harvest. Pods dry and rattle; they shatter.
Preparation and culinary uses
- Scattered on naan and armenian string cheese
- Pickles
Supplement relevance
AAA interpretation Nigella oil capsules are a supplement market. The food use is a pinch of seed on bread.
If you are considering a bottle, use the food-first tools rather than a social-media urgency loop.
Next steps
Sources
- USDA PLANTS Database — taxonomy and range (verify current entries)
- No USDA FoodData Central nutrient profile is attached here. That is not a claim that the plant contains no nutrients.
- State cooperative extension growing guides — verify for your region
- Integrated from the existing aaaLifetime / quantum-biohack encyclopedia corpus (unique text preserved where it was not boilerplate).
Honest incompleteness is preferred to fabricated completeness. If a section is missing, no record for it is attached here — not a claim that the plant lacks that characteristic, and not that it was omitted as a secret.
Internal quality class A. Strong page: distinctive plant facts plus practical growing or kitchen use.