How a Malayali Kitchen Uses Cardamom Through the Week

The easiest way to learn how to use cardamom is to watch a Malayali kitchen: one or two crushed pods in tea, ground seeds in anything sweet made with jaggery or coconut, and whole pods in ghee for rice and meat dishes. Cardamom (elakka) is rarely the star. Cooks use it little and often, and crush it fresh.

Below is a day-by-day look at where cardamom turns up in an ordinary Kerala week, with the amounts many home cooks use.

How much cardamom do Kerala cooks use?

Less than you'd think. Two pods is a lot for one pot of tea. Seeds from three or four pods is enough for a small batch of sweet filling. Freshness matters more than quantity, and a few freshly crushed pods beat a big spoon of old powder.

Monday to Wednesday: tea and snacks

Weekdays start and end with tea. In many homes one or two crushed pods go into the pot with the leaves and milk. In Malabar, black tea with a squeeze of lime and a crushed pod, called sulaimani, is common after a heavy meal.

Cardamom turns up quietly at four o'clock. Unniyappam, the small sweet fritters of rice, jaggery and banana, get a little powdered elakka in the batter. So does the sweet coconut filling for ela ada, steamed in banana leaf.

Tip for weekday tea

Crush the pod just enough to split it. Add it with the tea leaves, not at the end, and let it boil for a minute. Husk and seeds both give flavour, as we explain in cardamom seeds vs husk.

Thursday: the weekday curry

Everyday curries like sambar, theeyal and fish curry usually skip cardamom. It shows up in the richer ones. A chicken curry or vegetable kurma often starts with whole cardamom, clove and cinnamon crackling in coconut oil before the onions go in, and some cooks grind a pod or two into the masala.

If a dish has coconut milk, onions and whole spices, cardamom probably belongs. If it's sour, tamarind-based or built on kudampuli, it usually doesn't.

Friday and Saturday: rice

Ghee rice (neychoru) is almost all about smell. Whole cardamom, clove and cinnamon go into hot ghee with sliced onions, then the rice. Malabar biryani leans on cardamom too, whole in the rice and ground in the masala.

Use whole pods here. Pick them out on your plate, or warn guests, because biting into one is a strong surprise.

Sunday: payasam

A Sunday or festival sweet is often payasam. Semiya payasam, paal payasam and the jaggery pradhaman all finish with ground cardamom stirred in at the end, often with cashews and raisins fried in ghee.

1. Shell 4 to 6 pods and powder the seeds with a pinch of sugar.
2. Take the payasam off the heat.
3. Stir in the cardamom, then the ghee-fried cashews and raisins.
4. Cover for a few minutes so the smell settles in.

Adding it off the heat keeps the smell fresh. Boil it longer and the top notes fade.

Habits worth copying

• Keep whole pods, not powder. Powder only what you'll use that day or that week.
• Grind with sugar. A pinch in the mortar helps the seeds break down fine.
• Save the husks for the tea pot.
• Store airtight, in a closed steel or glass container away from the stove. More in our guide on how to store spices.

Our cardamom

We're in Rajakumari, Idukki, and cardamom is what the hills around us are known for. Our Kerala cardamom is grown in Idukki, dried in a cardamom dryer, and packed as whole pods with nothing added in a resealable pouch. More background is in our Kerala cardamom guide.

Frequently asked questions

Should I use whole cardamom or powder in payasam?

Powder from freshly shelled seeds, stirred in after the payasam is off the heat. Whole pods can go in while the milk simmers, but powder at the end gives the clearest smell.

Do Kerala fish curries use cardamom?

Usually not. Sour fish curries made with kudampuli or tamarind rely on chilli, fenugreek, curry leaves and coconut oil. Cardamom goes into richer coconut-milk and onion-based dishes.

Start with tomorrow's tea. It's the smallest change and you'll notice it straight away.