
During a Corona-cleanup in my kitchen I found a jar of cardamom seeds. They belonged to a bottle of gin that got empty sooner than the jar of seeds. I didn't like to throw them away. So I decided to use them in cardamom cupcakes.
About cardamom
Green cardamom grows in the South of India in the state of Kerala. It is a shrub that can grow up to 4 meters tall and belongs to the same family as ginger. The spices are the dried seed boxes of the plant.
It is not the cheapest spice in the world, and is therefore also called the "Queen of spices". It ranks after saffron and vanilla in the price range.
There is also a black version of cardamom. This is a bit bigger and has its origins in the North-East of India, Sikkim. The greens are said to have a more subtle taste.
I find it quite difficult to describe the taste of cardamom. It certainly is not spicy. It has a mild, warm and slightly bitter taste with a sense of sweet. For that reason it is often used to spice Christmas cookies and "Glühwein".
If you want to study cardamom more in detail, you can check wikipedia, or thespruceeats, which also has a very extensive section about cardamom.
Are you looking for more recipes with cardamom? On surprising.recipes you will find some other Indian pleasures with cardamom. Be sure to try mango lassi spiced up with cardamom and saffron on a hot summer afternoon! The gravy of Malai Kofta will be so much tastier if you spice it up with some cardamom.
If you speak Dutch, you can find the Dutch version of this recipe on gerechtenweb.blog.




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