Welcome to Raw Epicurean where a passion for raw vegan food + ideas + inspiration is shared through pixilated pages.
Raw food is for everyone! You don't have to be 100% raw to receive the benefits and enjoy it.
Recent Entries
- Saffron :: Herb of the Month
- Kyocera Ceramic Knife + Peeler Giveaway
- Apricots
- Coriander :: Herb of the Month
- Apple Sour Tonic
- Caraway Macaroons
- Red Clover :: Herb of the Month
- Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution
- Appetizers + Snacks (11)
- Book + Ebook Reviews (7)
- Breakfast Recipes (4)
- Cacao Recipes (5)
- Condiments (10)
- Cookie Recipes (9)
- Creams + Sauces (5)
- Dessert Recipes (24)
- Dressings + Vinaigrette (2)
- Drink Recipes (25)
- Eco-Friendly Products (3)
- Equipment + Gadgets + Tools (17)
- Etcetera (27)
- Foodie News (2)
- Health and Wellness Articles (4)
- Herb of the Month (14)
- Holiday Recipes (6)
- Main – Entrée (15)
- Make Your Own (2)
- Movie Reviews (2)
- Opinion (4)
- Organic Vegan Wine (3)
- People (18)
- Plant Food (13)
- Raw Kitchen Pantry (4)
- Restaurant Reviews (1)
- Salad Recipes (14)
- Side Dish Recipes (8)
- Soup Recipes (10)
- Suggestions + Tips (16)
Raw Vegan Recipes + More
Ingredient Index
Lists
Cardamom :: Herb of the Month
March 26, 2010
I love most herbs and spices. Cardamom is up there as one of my favorites. I enjoy its warm and pungent aromatic fragrance, and tasting it’s unique flavor, especially in Indian dishes, but you can find the flavor of cardamom in Middle Eastern and Scandinavian dishes too.
Two Varieties
Elettaria is the most commonly recognized of the two varieties. It is light green and looks like little puffed triangular pods. Amomum is the larger dark brown pods. Both are members of the ginger family Zingiberaceae and have alias names.
Elettaria aka green cardamom or true cardamom
Amomum aka black or brown cardamom, Kravan, Java cardamom, Bengal cardamom, Siamese cardamom, white cardamom, or red cardamom. Additionally, you may see white cardamom, which is mainly used in Northern European.
Purchasing and Storing
There are three ways to purchase green cardamom: whole pods, seeds, or powdered form. Some recipes may call for pods, some for seeds. Personally, I like to purchase the pods because they offer the longest shelf life. I’ll open as many pods as I need to use the seeds, or grind them into powder in a spice mill or coffee grinder.
Like all spices, it is best to keep cardamom in an airtight container away from heat and direct light. If your local markets doesn’t carry cardamom, there are online resources where you can purchase this wonderful spice.
Benefits and Uses
Cardamom has numerous health benefits like improving digestion and stimulating the metabolism. Use cardamom seeds to flavor coffee and curries, desserts, pudding, and mulled wine. One of the best known beverages featuring the taste of cardamom is chai. Cloves and cinnamon combine well with cardamom.
Recipe
Garam Masala
Making your own homemade blend is the best.
1 tablespoon fresh grated nutmeg
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves or equivalent whole cloves
1 teaspoon ground or fresh mace
1 teaspoon ground or whole caraway seeds
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
4 black peppercorns
Split open cardamom pods by crushing the outer shell with the back of a spoon or spatula. Coolect the seeds and add to a coffee grinder along with all the remaining ingredients. Grind spices into a powder, about 3-4- seconds.
Transfer powdered spice mix to a bowl or container. Continue grinding spices, if there are any left, and add to bowl or container. Store in a small jar with a tight fitting lid until ready to use. Keeps between 3 – 6 month if stored properly. Keep away from heat and excess sunlight.
Giveaway
At the end of this month, one of your names will be drawn from the comment section of this post, and our wonderful sponsor Mountain Rose Herbs will send a gift cardamom to the winning participant.
I’d love to know how you use cardamom. Share your tips, suggestions, and ideas in the comment section.
Thanks for stopping by.
xoxo,
Ingrid
Tweet This: Send Page to Twitter
Comments
86 Comments so far
| Get The Raw Epicurean Report free monthly food news in your inbox |
Receive the latest raw vegan recipes and related posts via email alerts | RSS subscription
Let's connect via Twitter
Join our fabulous community
Herb of the Month
Red Clover our featured spice for April. We'll highlight its benefits, showcase it in raw vegan recipes, and at the end of the month a reader's name will be drawn from the comments, and our sponsor
will send that person products featuring red clover. Thank you for participating!
[...] Cardamom :: Herb of the Month [...]
Yummy, warm,tummy,yummy
Hanna – :-)
I love making chai :)
Sara – me too. :-)
I love cardamom. I sometimes put it in smoothies, and of course in chai. I’m sure there are other ways, but it’s late and I can’t think of them right now. Thank you, Ingrid!
Ooooh…I just thought of a wonderful way to try them…ground up and put into raw banana ice cream with some crushed pistachios and dried coconut! Raw Kulfi, anyone!?!
Missy – sounds heavenly! Thanks for stopping by. :-)
Green Cardamom seeds are a great natural mouth freshener!
Shafik – do you like Paan, the mix of spices offered after an Indian dinner that you chew. I love it.
I have a recipe for Raw portobello mushroom “steak” marinated in cardamom..its outrageously good!
Barbara – I love marinated mushrooms and that sounds fantastic! Now I’m hungry. :-)
In [raw] cookies! [Nuts & dates processed together.]
AndreThia – Yum!
Thank you for allowing me to enter. I sure would love to have and win this.
Peacefully,
Andrea
Andrea – sure, thanks for stopping by.
I ? cardamom…
I’m a vegan and love cooking. Lately, I’ve been spiking my unsuspecting boyfriend’s coffee with cardamom and he’s said the way I make his coffee always makes it taste “better, for some reason”. Cardamom is the mystery!
That was supposed to be “I (heart) cardamom.”
Allie – got it, thanks for stopping by. :-)
Cardamom is one of my favorite spices!!! It is my “secret ingredient” in a lot of things!!!!
Hi Patricia – :-)
I like the exotic scent and taste of cardamom. I first had it at an Indian restaurant in a rice dessert and with honeyed milk balls. Now that we eat mostly fresh, raw foods, I would like to try it in a fruit smoothie.
Hi Mary – look into Middle Eastern and Scandinavian cuisine for ideas on how to use cardamon.
Yay! cardomom is grrrreat, I don’t use it in a lot, but I should! Thanks for inspiraiton <3 :), Blissings to ya!
Hi Kirtane – :-) thanks for stopping by.
I Love cardamom. I first discovered it in Chai and I knew I had to go out and buy some. Sadly I do not know how to use it but I love the smell of it! I quite often get the jar and open it up and take a big whiff! Maybe I will have to try tossing it in with the cinnamon that I put in everything!
Hi Jennifer – just crush the pod open to get at the seeds inside. Discard the pods shells and depending on how it is used in a recipe, crush or ground-to-powder the seeds. :-)
Yay! Cardamom is one of my favorite spices. I crush the pods with cinnamon sticks, cloves, and black peppercorns and brew it with black tea leaves in hot water. Then I strain it into hot milk for a delicious cup of homemade chai! It’s also great to add to rice while it’s cooking. It adds a hint of Indian flavor, especially when you use basmati rice :)
Hi Cellabella – wonderful! I might post my chai recipe. I think chai is the best.
will try adding some to my smoothies like i do now sometimes with cinnamon!
Hi Bee – Mmm, why not add both! Double deliciousness.
I too have had a secret love for cardamom for years, long before I was raw. I first fell in love with them in cookies. The sweet combined with cardamom’s earthy zip — yum! And then of course in chai and other Indian food, it’s delicious. I haven’t seen it in many raw recipes though and am looking forward to finding more recipes or making them. I’d like to come up with some raw recipes for cookies, biscotti, a rice-pudding type dish, and ice cream. (hmmm, I think Heathy Pace has a blueberry cardamom ice cream and cake recipe on her Sweetly Raw site).
Hopefully we’ll get more recipes w/cardamom out there too.
Hi Angelique – oh there are so many delicious ways we can incorporate cardamom into raw recipes….Heathy’s recipes sound wonderful.
I like it in my chai!
Hi Shira – what is chai without cardamom, love it too. :-)
I adore cardamom, especially green pods. Such a unique fragrance!
Allie – indeed, thanks for stopping by. :-)
And to think all I ever used Cardamon for was cinnamon buns. It sure did add to the flavor.
Julie Deisenroth
I love to make some almod or cashew milk, warm it just slightly with cardamon and tiny dose of agave. Served in my favorite mug, cat on lap, book in hand – perfect rainy spring afternoon treat!
Cardamon blends so lovely with almonds and rose water and the best way I enjoy the combination is in cookie form :)
I still have not been given the opportunity to use cardamon. The first thing I would use it for would be for some chai tea!
I use Cardamom in most of my rice dishes,using various different recipes.
However here is one of my favorite ways I like to use this herb-to make a cup of tea.
1 or two Cardamom pods
1 clove
1 slice of fresh ginger
1 cup of hot water
Place all herbs and slice of lemon in hot water, and let set for 1 minute.
This tea is very relaxing, healthy,and is proven by my own research to help with flu’s or coughs.
I love the flavor of cardamom! It’s great in chai tea, as well as Indian dishes!
I love cardamom and recently discovered its yummy taste. My favorite way to enjoy it is a little on my spinach or in tea.
I have to confess that this spice has not been used much in my diet and would love to explore it. I grew up in a region where there was nothing like it, so I am still introducing new herbs and spices to my daily diet.
Thanks for the info, Ingrid.
I love cardamom in my nutmilks with some honey…sooooooooo yummy!
Oooh, I love cardamom! I use to make a wonderful bread with cardamom. I sometimes put it in my Raw granola recipe now. I know it seems odd but since I was use to it being in a sweet bread, it seemed like a natural progression : )Thanks for sharing and the giveaway Ingrid!
I have loved cardamom for as long as I can remember, but had no idea it had side benefits!
What a great excuse to include more in my diet!
Cardamom, ash Cardamom… I coud sing a song of Amor to you… sweet divine fragrant Cardomom!
Oh Raw Cardamom Cookies, hmmm;
Mix together ground up almonds & cashews, honey, coconut & cardamom & a little coconut water or milk
roll into balls & eat, or also dehydrate. OMG!!!!
It’s a dream-come-true!
I use cardamom when I’m making Indian food, but I also love to make chai from scratch with whole cardamom pods along with other spices. I love the smell so much that I even have a lip balm that’s scented with cardamom. I put it on while I do yoga so I can inhale the scent while I do my Kundalini kriyas!
I love cardamom! It has been my favorite herb for some time. Everyday I soak the shelled cardamom seeds (together with cumin, fennel, and black caraway seeds) and use the water in my green smoothies; I then chew the soaked seeds. Sometimes I throw the cardamom seeds into the finished smoothie and then the smoothie almost becomes an excuse for eating the cardamom seeds! The seeds also ensure that I chew my green smoothies. I also like to carry the cardamom seeds (with pods) in a small jar in my purse and chew a few when I am waiting in line. Some people curiously ask me what I am eating and I tell them and they usually are tempted to try–I have heard numerous different responses from different people. Some like the green ones, and other the black ones. Some say they taste minty. I love them both (green and black ones)!
By the way, in a most recent channeling done by Jon C Fox, Master Hilarion (chohen of the green ray of healing) mentioned that cardamom helps to bring in more light into the body.
I love cardamom, too! It’s scent is so rich and exotic – I often use it as potpourri! I also love to bake cardamom into breads, muffins and cakes…blend it with my loose tea…sprinkle it into my soups and stews…and you can’t forget to add cardomom to your curries!
Cardamon is one of my favorite herbs for its many benefits.
WOW……………I have never really used cardamom on its own. I have however used garam masala & LOVE it. So now I am really excited to try the pods (grind them) in some of my raw dishes; entrees & desserts.
Love Cardamom. I puchased it in the white pod form. One of my favorite things that I made with them is Orange Cardomom Cupcakes. The sweetness of the cake, the citrusy orange and pungent spice of cardomom was over the top. Couldn’t stop eating them. It was the Cardomom:-)
I loves organic marshmallows with Cardamom in them! It is delicious in organic hot coco and better when homemade.
I have not used cardamon yet. I will start by making the recipie for Garam Masala.
I absolutely love cardamom. I’ve used it in many recipes; chai, basmati rice, other indian dishes, as well as a root vegetable dish I make in the fall that is yummy. I do want to try steeping it with rooibos tea. I also have a recipie for sweet potato chips that are dehydrated and would like to try sprinkling some cinnamon and finely crushed cardamom on them before drying them. Yummy!!!
I love cardammon. Sometimes I throw a few seeds in with my dry coffee when I make it in the morning. It gives the coffee a very pleasant taste.
debp
twoofakind12@yahoo.com
I would love to win! I use Cardamom in my tandoori chicken!
I love Mountain Rose Herbs!
I would use the Cardamom in Chicken Curry
I am an Indian, and we use cardemom in all kinds of items: tea, sweets, milk etc.
i use it in a india chicken dish i found. i had never heard of it before mverno@roadrunner.com
Have you ever tried crushed Cardomom as a flavoring for Tapioca pudding? It is scrumptious!
would love these
hmmmm sounds yummy yummy
coffee with cardamom
I enjoy grinding cardamom pods to add to strong coffee, or adding them to other herbs to make a memorable tea.
Thanks for the great post. I will have to make sure I try this more!
I use cardamon in my smoothies and in cookies.
I put a couple in rice while it’s cooking. I also add a cinnamon stick and a couple cloves.
i love cardamom i use it in my coconut pudding! boutique1976 at yahoo dot com
I have never used these before but I am exited to try!
in tea ty
in Chai
I like to use them as some do in India: Chew after a meal to aid digestionand sweeten the breth. Thanks.
I put it in chicken curry, though I’d love to try this in other things I make. :D
THANKS!
love cardamon.
a favorite
sheer chai (by way of a beloved old afghani friend, abdul, who’s mother was a royal chef)
almost simmer milk, sugar, cardamon and gunpowder tea for about 10 minutes
Oh, cardamom is wonderful for Indian dishes and chai. Two of my faves!
I use it for Cardamom Bread and I also put some in my fruit salad dressing.
I haven’t used cardamon in very much, but I’m very interested in trying! I’ve been experimenting a lot with new spices and cooking so I’d love to try some Indian dishes.
Yummy! The first time I experienced cardamon was in Essential oil form. It is very expensive so I didn’t have the opportunity to purchase any. A few years ago a recipe from Vegan With a Vengeanc (hatian Seitan) called for ground cardamon and I fell in love w/ cardamon all over again. I am dying to try a cardamon/ginger tea!! My body is craving it.
Love freshly-ground cardamom seeds in savory as well as sweet dishes. And, of course, it is a part of my favorite morning chai tea.
Excellent product
Excellent prices
Excellent service
Excellent company
I rarely buy herbs anywhere else
Thank you MRH
dave
Try chewing just whole cardamom pods. In addition to the fresh breath (treats infectious teeth and gums) it is believed also to give you more pure thoughts in spiritual rituals or moments for your self.
Cardamom is one of those herbs I haven’t used much yet, but after hearing all the good things I’ve heard about it, I really want to explore and enjoy it.
my thx to you and Mt. Rose Herbs for the giveaway!
I haven’t used them. but I’ve heard their great in tea, so thats what I will use them for.
I love cardamon and use it as a substitute or along side cinnamon. So, apple pies, rice pudding, even in jams, or as a flavoring in pound cake instead or with vanilla.
I had never heard of cardamom before!
I ? cardamom! In my home we use them for Arabic coffee and Middle Eastern desserts! I also sprinkle them in yogurts, ice cream, smoothies and puddings too! It gives an amazing aroma to any dish.
sounds like something i would love 2 try:)
I love cardamom. I use it to make home made Chai tea.I Like green tea Chai .The smell of the ingredients permeate the house .
It is hard to find good cardamom.Thank you
I like it in chai, but have not experience cooking wit it yet. I ave been getting some great ideas from the comments here. Thanks
ANNOUNCEMENT
Thank you for participating in our herb of the month giveaway drawing for cardamom and for all the wonderful comments sharing inspiring ways you use cardamom in a recipes.
I am please to announce that Allie, of Random Teaspoon will soon receive her gift of cardamom. Congratulations and enjoy the many way you can use it! :-)
Anxious to try something new!
I love that you keep teaching us. Especially since I don’t think I’ve ever even seen this before, “in real life.” (Or I just didn’t know it!) What an amazing world of food, we have. Thanks so much for all that you do! :)
I love chai flavored anything, so I would love to be able to make my own seasoning mix with a good quality cardamom.
I LOVE Indian food…my favorite thing to cook because the spices smell soooo awesome as you cook them. I never thought to make my own Garam Masala…think it is a great plan!
Hi, I actually use the ground cardamom in cinnamon rolls as it quite subtle. We love Indian food, in fact we are picking up lamb and goat from a farm this week, I am so looking forward to making kheer at home. Thank you. Kindly, Jude