There is a trick to increase the taste of your whole cumin seeds. Although, it doesn't work with ground cumin. You can dry fry (toast) your cumin seeds in a pan, shaking the pan regularly so that the seeds don't burn on until you can smell the aroma in the air. This is commonly done in the Indian subcontinent. Cumin is also fried in oil with other spices in the area, such as curry leaves and coriander seeds. This technique is known as tempering.