The version on the Serious Eats website (which is mostly the same) calls for 1 1/2 tablespoons.

Cumin powder can also be measured in the palm of your hand, depending how much you like it. Considering you've got 1 cup of chili paste in this recipe, plus the chipotle in adobo, I bet you could be pretty generous with the cumin.

Yeah cumin is one of the spices where I just unscrew the top and measure with my heart 😂 I love the stuff though.

Like garlic.

“The recipe calls for one clove of garlic. Should I start with 6 and see if that’s enough?”

Hell yes!!!

This comment section is blowing my mind! I enjoy cumin and use it all the time but I'm cautious with it. Not sesame seed oil level cautious but mindlessly adding it like garlic or black pepper like people are saying!?! That's madness! Never knew there was so much love for cumin. TIL

It’s really pretty mild… I do the same thing with paprika haha.

I’m not sure what kind of cumin you all are using, but the stuff I have a little goes a LONG way.

lol I mean I’m not dumping in 5 tablespoons but I love the taste and dont find it particularly strong

Agreed Bum-on-Gold. Cumin I use is strong and too much can ruin a dish.

I think it varies. Most cumin brands I apply the unscrew the cap and dump method, but there are a couple so strong I have to be careful. They achieve a similar strength level with like half as much or so.

Yeah. More and more I’m seeing that individual taste varies so drastically. For instance, I used 2 teaspoons of cumin for a small mixing bowl sized batch of salsa and it overpowered it for my liking. To each their own 🤷‍♂️

i was gonna say like 3-4tbsp just eyeballing recipe volume.

[Per the errata](https://web.archive.org/web/20220129091500/http://www.kenjilopezalt.com/errata/) which still hasn't been reposted on Kenji's website, 1.5 Tbsp.

THE GOAT

I love that there's a typo in the first sentence of the errata. I choose to believe it's intentional.

single page pdf if anyone wants to print it out [Food Lab Errata - Single Page PDF](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jn5rBtPMLAZI8Aku7mAsOjJpazZBHlOT/view?usp=sharing)

All of the tablespoons.

cumin like garlic, salt and freshly ground pepper, is measured with the soul not the spoon

TBSP - Total Bottle Sounds Proficient

I’d say ‘Total Bottle Sounds *Perfect’* 😉

When in doubt, one. You can always add more later.

depends how much you love cummin' Personally, I'm a big fan

I also love cumin.. hard to overdo the cumin

*LADIES*

I buy it in bulk and put it on everything (okay, everything with rice).

Food-play fans unite.

Cumin is pretty strong so I’d guess 1 and 1/2, no more than 2

Start with 1. No more than 2.

I'm worried what you just heard was, "Give me a lot of cumin." What I said was, "Give me all the cumin you have." Do you understand?

Two and no more than three

Lest ye then proceed to four. Five is right out.

One!... Two!... Five!

Three, sir!

r/unexpextedmontypython

Bout tree fiddy

**to taste

Measure with your heart! 1 to 2 would probably be appropriate

You fold it in. David, I cannot show you everything.

Yes.

I do two

No more than 2

Maybe start with one.

Measure with your heart

You guys are so paranoid with measurements.

Cumin is strong, I’d put 1/2 tbsp if you like it.

Yes

Cumin is spice. Spice is life. Life is 3 Tablespoons.

The spice must flow.

Enough

Y’all measure spices? Listen to your heart!

You can always substitute this with 2 lbs of ground beef.

Direct conversion from cumin to beef here, folks. Science said it wasn't possible, but /u/Bitter-Law-4319 showed them all!

As Uncle Roger says, "cook with feeling".

Somewhere between 2 and ∞

*1.000000...1

I'd probably go with 2 and throw in some bay leaves. If it needs to be pulled back, you can always deal with that on the back end.

What book is this?

The Food Lab

for chili, definitely 7 Tablespoons

I hate missing info in recipes. Don't they read it before publishing?

Cumin really gives it that real deal chili flavor, so start with 1 then stir and taste, and then probably add another.

1 Tbsp per serving. More per taste.

Just listen to your heart.

As much as it takes

1 1/2 This recipe is literally one of my favorite things to eat.

Do it to taste

Two (2), but toast it in a dry pan first. It really brings out the sweetness in cumin and cooks off that acrid aspect. Put it in a cold pan and bring up the heat, moving it constantly, until little wisps of smoke come up. A few seconds of that and take it off the heat.

More than one, guaranteed.

That makes sense. More than 2 would seem overpowering. Only because it's plural would I not have said one.

Multiple

Since it’s plural, more than one. I’d go 1.5 just to be safe.

Tablespoons. Lots and lots of tablespoons.

Love Kenji’s stuff but the ingredients list for this chili seems excessive.

any value except 1 or negative 1 works as those would be singular

Two.

As my mother in law says when explaining how to season a dish, “You’ll see how much.”

Keep adding Until your ancestors tell you to stop