Cardamom

Culinary Use

Green cardamom is often the first spice added to the pot, slipped into hot oil or ghee so its seeds release a soft perfume that lingers through the dish. In South Asian kitchens it lifts rice, dals, and curries, while in chai it steeps with tea leaves, milk, and sugar, giving a sweet-green fragrance that feels almost like a signature of home. Black cardamom is treated differently. The pods are larger, smokier, and best used whole, often fried briefly in oil with onions and garlic at the beginning of a dish. Their deep, resinous flavour anchors Himalayan soups, meat stews, and biryanis, and pairs beautifully with earthy lentils or roasted root vegetables. Both kinds are powerful: a single green pod perfumes a whole pot, and one black pod can carry the depth of a stew.

Spice Jar - Cardamom

Hand-harvested in Eastern Himalayas, shade-cured or smoke-dried, packed whole or finely ground.

Taste and Aroma

Green cardamom has a fragrance that feels almost magical the first time you crush a pod. It is bright and sweet, with hints of citrus peel, pine forest, and cool eucalyptus, all wrapped in a soft creaminess. It doesn’t shout, it sparkles, giving food a lift that feels both refreshing and comforting. Black cardamom is its earthier sibling. The pods smell of woodsmoke, resin, and a cool menthol breath, like standing near a fire on a cold mountain night. Its taste is bold and grounding, more about depth than brightness. Together they show the two poles of cardamom’s character: one high and floral, the other deep and smoky. Think of green cardamom as the top notes in a song, and black cardamom as the steady bass line that holds everything together.

The Origin

Green cardamom, native to the misty forests of the Western Ghats, was prized in Ayurveda and temple offerings long before Arab traders carried it to Middle Eastern markets and European ports. Families in Sri Lanka and Kerala cultivated it as both medicine and luxury. Black cardamom belongs to the Himalayas, its larger pods cured slowly over wood smoke, shaping a bolder flavour for mountain kitchens. Both remain central to ritual, hospitality and trade, linking village plots to centuries of global exchange.

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