Cardamom

In the tradition

The texts know two cardamoms: sūkṣmailā, "the small one" — our green choti elaichi — and sthūlailā, the large black cardamom (badi elaichi), which is a different plant and gets its own page. Small cardamom is one of the three aromatics of trijātaka.

How Ayurveda reads it

Green cardamom is pungent and sweet, light and dry, and — unusually for a spice this fragrant — cooling, with a sweet after-digestion effect. It is described as balancing all three doshas, which is why it is added to so many formulations, and to heavier foods like milk and sweets to make them lighter.

The texts describe it as rocana (bringing back the taste for food) and as freshening the mouth.

In the Indian kitchen

Elaichi goes into chai, kheer, halwa, mithai of every kind, biryani and pulao, and garam masala. A pod chewed after a meal is the oldest mouth freshener there is.

How we use it

We use green cardamom, crushed so the seeds open, in our kahwas, teas and churnas. The flavour lives in the seeds; the husk carries it into the cup.