What Is Cardamom?
Fun fact: cardamom comes from a plant in the ginger family. Here’s what it tastes like and how to cook with it.
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By Fraya Berg for Food Network Kitchen
Fraya is a chef and a contributing writer at Food Network.
Cardamom is known as the Queen of Spices, and it's no wonder: it's used globally in many different dishes. Read on to learn more about the spice including what it tastes like and how to use it.
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What Is Cardamom?
Native to India and Indonesia, Cardamom is a warm spice with a strong aroma and flavor that's used in meat, vegetable curries, desserts and all manner of recipes. In Sweden and most Scandinavian countries, cardamom is very common in baked goods, such as cardamom buns. Cardamom plants are a relative of ginger and can grow to be five to ten feet tall. Harvesting cardamom is done entirely by hand, hence the hefty price tag.
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What Does Cardamom Taste Like?
Cardamom's flavor is rich with notes of ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and clove. Black cardamom has a similar profile with an added layer of smokiness because it is dried over a smoky fire.
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Types of Cardamom
Cardamom Pods vs Ground Cardamom
Cardamom grows in pods and you can buy it this way. Some recipes, such as this Masala Chai, call for you to crush up the pods, cook with them and discard later. Inside the pods you'll find seeds that are also ground up and sold as ground cardamom. Many baking recipes call for ground cardamom.
Green Cardamom
Green cardamom is the more common type of cardamom. If a recipe calls for cardamom, it's safe to assume it's referring to green cardamom. Green cardamom pods have paper-thin shells that encase dark brown seeds inside, with each pod holding about a dozen seeds.
White Cardamom
White cardamom is simply bleached green cardamom. It's popular in Scandinavian countries.
Black Cardamom
Black cardamom has a wrinkled, thicker shell and a smoky flavor. The seeds inside the shell look very similar to those in the green and white pods. It’s used in Chinese and Vietnamese cooking (in pho, for example).
What Is Cardamom Used For?
Cardamom is particularly common in Indian and Indian-American dishes, such as Samosas with Tamarind-Date Chutney, Peach-Pistachio Kulfi, Coconut Vegetable Curry, Chana Masala and Instant Pot Butter Chicken.
It's typically used in baking and sweet applications, such as our test kitchen's recipes for Pumpkin Crumble, Cardamom White Hot Chocolate and Brown Butter Thumbprints. As well, it's frequently used in Scandinavian recipes such as cardamom buns, mulled wine called glogg and Swedish Christmas Cookies.
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What Is a Substitute for Cardamom?
Because the flavor of green cardamom skews towards ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and clove mixed together, a combination of those spices is your best bet if you don’t have any. An easy alternative is an equal measure of pumpkin pie spice with an extra pinch of cloves to add intensity to the flavor.
If you’re looking for a substitute for black cardamom, pumpkin pie spice with extra clove can be augmented with a tiny amount of dry chipotle chili powder to give you the hint of smoke black cardamom is known for.
Recipes Using Cardamom
The very best curries are made with individual spices as opposed to an off-the-shelf curry powder, and this is no exception. All the warm spices make this curry really homestyle.
RYAN DAUSCH
If this recipe looks familiar, it’s because it’s a riff on Russian tea cookies, also called Mexican wedding cookies. The cardamom is a Scandinavian twist.
Matt
We all love a great sheet pan dinner, and this Middle Eastern shawarma is just that. The cardamom and other spices really bring the flavor.
Pears can be poached in red or white wine, and in this case it’s a Reisling Spatlese. The cardamom comes in at the end when you add a dollop of the cream to each pear.
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