Cardamom Conversions: Pods per Teaspoon, per Cup of Tea and per 100 g

As a rule of thumb, 10 to 12 medium-to-large cardamom pods give about 1 teaspoon of ground cardamom seeds, 1 to 2 crushed pods flavour a cup of tea, and 100 g of whole pods holds roughly 150 to 250 pods depending on size. All three numbers are approximate and move with pod size, fullness and moisture.

Pods to ground cardamom

Based on medium-to-large pods, seeds only:

Going the other way: if a recipe calls for "4 pods" and you only have ground cardamom, use about ¼ to ⅓ teaspoon.

If you grind whole pods, husk and all, you need fewer, around 6 to 8 per teaspoon, but the powder comes out coarser and a little weaker.

Pods per cup of tea

For one cup of chai, 1 to 2 pods, lightly crushed with the back of a spoon, is enough. Add them to the water before it boils so the oil has time to come out. For a full pot of 4 cups, 5 to 6 pods is about right. Sulaimani and other lighter teas need less, 1 pod is plenty.

Approx. pods per 100 g by size

Pod count per 100 g depends mostly on the size grade. These are rounded averages, not a lab measurement, since no batch of pods is perfectly uniform:

Bigger pods aren't automatically better, but they usually hold more seed for the same weight, so you need fewer of them for the same teaspoon. See our cardamom grades guide for what these size numbers mean when you're buying.

Why the numbers move around

• Pod size. An 8 mm pod holds noticeably more seed than a 6 mm one.
• How full the pods are. Well-matured pods are packed with seed. Immature or light ones can be half-empty.
• Seeds only, or whole pod. The husk adds bulk but very little flavour.
• Moisture. Drier pods weigh less, so more of them fit into 100 g.

A note on strength

Freshly ground cardamom is much stronger than powder that's been sitting in a jar for months. If you're converting an old recipe written for shop-bought powder, use a bit less of your fresh grind and taste before adding more. Payasam, custards and baked goods turn faintly soapy if you overdo it.

Weight, if you use a scale

A teaspoon of ground cardamom seed weighs roughly 2 g. This varies with how fine you grind it and how you fill the spoon, so treat it as a working estimate, not a fixed rule.

Grinding tip

Grind the seeds with a spoon of the sugar from your recipe. The sugar crystals work like tiny grinding stones and keep the powder fine and dry instead of clumping.

Bigger, fuller pods mean less peeling and less grinding for the same teaspoon. Our Idukki cardamom is sold whole, so you can see the size and fullness before you buy. For the full grinding method, see our guide on making cardamom powder at home.