Cardamom

True cardamom is a leafy perennial that grows in clumps up to about four metres tall, with flowers borne on low stems near the ground. The fruit is a small, three-sided green capsule about one to two centimetres long. Inside are three rows of tiny, sticky, dark brown to black seeds, which give cardamom its intense perfume.

The flavour is sweet, resinous, citrusy and slightly camphorous, with hints of mint and eucalyptus. It is sold as whole green pods, shelled seeds, ground powder and an essential oil. Green pods that have been bleached by sulphur-free methods are sold as white cardamom. Black or brown cardamom is a different, smokier spice from Amomum species.

Cardamom is native to the evergreen forests of the Western Ghats in southern India, where wild plants still grow in the shade of rainforest trees. It has long been gathered and cultivated in southern India and Sri Lanka.

The English name goes back to the Greek kardamomon, a compound term usually linked with the Greek words for cress and for a spice. The plant's genus name Elettaria comes from the Malayalam name elam or elettari, referring to the seeds. In Arabic the spice is called hayl, and in Hindi and Urdu elaichi.

Cardamom is one of the oldest spices in international trade. Ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans imported it from India, using it in perfume, incense, medicine and cooking. Arab traders controlled much of the spice routes from the Indian coast to the Mediterranean, and the Arab world made cardamom central to its coffee and sweets.

Through the Middle Ages cardamom was valued in Europe as an expensive flavouring. It became a key flavour in Scandinavian baking, with Sweden, Norway and Finland consuming large quantities in breads, buns and pastries, a habit possibly dating to Viking contacts with Constantinople.

Cultivation expanded in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The German coffee planter Oscar Majus Kloeffer introduced cardamom to Guatemala in the early twentieth century, and that country has become one of the largest producers and exporters, alongside India. Cardamom's high price comes from the labour-intensive harvest: pods ripen unevenly and are hand-picked repeatedly, then dried. It is often called the queen of spices.

Cardamom flavours both sweet and savoury dishes. In South Asia it goes into masala chai, rice pilaf, biryani, curries, and sweets such as kheer and gulab jamun. In the Middle East, cardamom is crushed with coffee to make gahwa. Scandinavian bakers use ground cardamom in buns, braided breads and cakes.

Whole pods are tucked into rice and stews, or lightly cracked to release the seeds. Freshly ground seeds have a stronger aroma than pre-ground powder. In Ayurvedic and traditional Chinese medicine, cardamom has been used for digestion, as a breath freshener and for respiratory complaints. The oil is used in perfumery and flavourings.

Cardamom has a traditional reputation as a digestive aid and breath freshener. Laboratory studies show that its essential oils have antioxidant and antimicrobial activity, and a few small human trials have looked at blood pressure, blood sugar and inflammation, with mixed or preliminary results.

At the small amounts used in cooking, cardamom adds flavour with negligible nutrition. Supplement claims go beyond what the evidence supports, and cardamom should not be used as a replacement for medical treatment.