Cardamom is often included in Indian sweet dishes and drinks. It is seen as a festive spice. Other uses are; in pickles, especially pickled herring; in punches and mulled wines; occasionally with poultry. It also flavors Turkish coffee when served with elaborate ritual. The pods can be used whole or split, can be bruised and fried when cooked in Indian or other recipes.
Background: Cardamom is a very ancient spice. It is native to the East originating in the forests of the western ghats in southern India, where it grows wild. Today it also grows in Sri Lanka, Guatemala, Indo China and Tanzania. The ancient Egyptians chewed cardamom seeds as a tooth cleaner; the Greeks and Romans used it as a perfume. Vikings came upon cardamom about one thousand years ago introducing it into Scandinavia where it remains popular to this day. Cardamom is a precious spice, second only to saffron.
In flavoring they are often combined with Orange, Cinnamon, Cloves, and Caraway. Glycerine substituted honey in the 1880.
Cardamom is in many curry powder and chai recipes, used for flavoring cakes and other treats. In Egypt they are ground and put in coffee. Traditionally the dessicated seed is chewed with betel. Their use was known to the ancients. The oil is used in perfumery.
Description: This large perennial of the ginger family, called Elattari or Ilach in its native India, yields the seeds known as cardamom. The fleshy rhizome, and the alternate, lanceolate leaves are blades shape, from 1 to 2 1/2 feet long, smooth and dark green above, pale, glaucous green and finely silky beneath. The flowering stems spread horizontally near the ground from a few inches to 2 feet long bearing small loose racemes. The small flowers being usually yellowish with a violet lip. The fruits are from 2/5 to 4/5 of an inch long, ovoid or oblong, bluntly triangular in section, shortly beaked at the apex, pale yellowish grey in color, plump, and nearly smooth. Cardamom grows successfully in tropical climes. The seeds are three-celled, containing in each cell two rows of dark reddish-brown seeds. Unbroken fruit is gathered before fully ripened. The seeds are powerfully aromatic
