Next to saffron, cardamom is the world’s most expensive spice. It is the seed pods of a herbaceous perennial, a member of the ginger family, growing wild in the jungles of southern India and Sir Lanka; it is also cultivated commercially in many tropical countries.
The dried seed pods are triangular or ovoid in shape and vary in colour from cream, through pale green to light brown; pale green pods, with small brownish-black seeds, have the better flavour. These can be stored in a dry form.
To use, slice open the pods and scrape out the seeds which are used whole or ground in curries, rice, in pickles, mulled wine, in custards, in cakes and biscuits. Bedouin coffee, which is rather lovely is traditionally heavily flavoured with cardamom.
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