In message , Pam Moore
writes
Do any of you understand how nigella seeds can be onion seeds?
This cropped up last year on The Apprentice and again last night on
Masterchef. On the latter, the contestants were asked to identify
different seeds. They are apparently used in Indian cookery. The
seeds labelled nigella/onion seeds looked like both but cannot be
both.
Can you explain?

Pam in Bristol

A bit of Googling reveals that Onion Seed is a counterintuitive name
given to the seeds of Nigella sativa as a culinary ingredient. There is
a superficial similarity between the seeds of Nigella and Allium, which
may lie behind this.
--
Stewart Robert Hinsley