Kerala Cardamom: A Complete Guide for Home Cooks

Kerala cardamom is the small green cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum) grown in the shaded hills of the Western Ghats, mostly in Idukki district. Good pods are green, plump and heavy, with sticky black seeds that smell sharp and sweet the moment you crush them. This guide covers what to look for, how to store cardamom and how to cook with it.

We farm in Rajakumari, Idukki, so this is written from the hills. Where we've gone deep on a topic elsewhere, you'll find a link instead of a repeat.

What makes Kerala cardamom different?

Cardamom grows in several countries now, but the Kerala hills suit it well. The plant likes filtered shade, heavy but well-spread rain and cool nights, and the Cardamom Hills of Idukki have all three.

Most of India's small cardamom comes from Kerala, and most of Kerala's comes from Idukki. You'll often see it sold as "Alleppey Green". The name comes from the old port of Alleppey (Alappuzha), where cardamom was once brought for processing and shipping, and not from where it grows. Alleppey Green Cardamom is a registered Geographical Indication, listed by the Spices Board with a 2008 registration date.

In Malayalam it's elakka. In Hindi it's elaichi, and the small green kind is sometimes called chhoti elaichi to tell it from the big smoky black one.

Is green cardamom the same as black cardamom?

No. They're different plants. Green cardamom is sweet, floral and cooling. Black cardamom (Amomum subulatum) is larger, smoke-dried, and tastes of camphor and wood smoke. It belongs in heavy meat curries and some garam masalas, and not in payasam. Our post on the difference between green and black cardamom goes through it.

How is Kerala cardamom picked and dried?

Pods don't ripen together. Pickers go through the same plants every few weeks in the season and pull only the ready pods. It's slow hand work, and a big reason cardamom costs what it does.

After picking, the pods are washed and dried. Fresh pods are full of water, and how they're dried decides much of the final colour and smell. On Idukki farms, cardamom is usually dried in a cardamom dryer, a heated chamber where warm air moves through the pods at a controlled temperature. Slow, even heat keeps the green. Too much heat, or uneven drying, turns pods pale or brown.

Our post on how cardamom is hand-picked and processed follows the pods from plant to dryer. If you want to know when fresh crop reaches the market, read the August cardamom harvest season guide.

How can you tell good cardamom from poor cardamom?

You don't need tools. Eyes, fingers and nose tell you most of it.

Check	Good sign	Warning sign
Colour	Even green, olive to bright	Pale, yellow, white or patchy brown
Shape	Plump, rounded, mostly closed	Shrivelled, flat, many split pods
Weight	Feels heavy in the hand	Light and hollow, rattles
Seeds	Black or dark brown, slightly sticky	Pale brown, dry, dusty
Smell when crushed	Strong and immediate	Faint, or slow to come

Size gets most of the attention, but it isn't everything. A bold pod picked early can hold less than a smaller, fully mature one. Traders measure this with litre weight (grams per litre of pods) and sort pods into grades by size and weight. Our post on cardamom grades from pinchu to fruit seed explains each one.

Whole pods or powder?

Whole pods, nearly always. The smell sits in volatile oils inside the seeds, and once the seeds are ground those oils escape fast. Powder also hides things. You can't see the pod colour, if husk was ground in, or how old it is.

Buy whole, then crush or grind what you need that day. A mortar and pestle works, or a small mixie jar with a pinch of sugar to help the seeds break up.

If you're buying online, our checklist on how to buy cardamom online in India has questions worth asking a seller.

How should you store cardamom at home?

1. Keep pods whole until you use them.
2. Use an airtight glass jar or a resealable pouch.
3. Keep it away from the stove, sunlight and steam.
4. Skip the fridge for small amounts you use often. Opening a cold jar in a warm kitchen lets moisture condense inside.
5. Buy what you'll finish in a few months.

Stored like this, whole pods keep their smell for many months. Ground cardamom fades in weeks.

How do home cooks use it?

• Chai and coffee: crush one or two pods and boil with the tea, or add to filter coffee powder.
• Payasam and kheer: grind the seeds with a little sugar and stir in near the end.
• Biryani and ghee rice: add whole pods to hot ghee with cloves and cinnamon before the rice.
• Curries: a couple of pods in the tempering, or seeds ground into the masala.
• Sweets and snacks: unniyappam, halwa, laddoo and banana fritters take a pinch of ground seeds.

A little goes a long way. For a dish serving four, two to four pods is plenty. Too much tips into a medicinal, eucalyptus taste.

Pods or seeds in the dish?

For slow-cooked biryani or curries, lightly crushed whole pods are fine, and you can pick them out before serving. For sweets and drinks, open the pods and use only the seeds, ground fine, so nobody bites a husk.

Our cardamom

Our cardamom comes from farms around Idukki. It's dried in a cardamom dryer and packed whole, with nothing added, in a resealable pouch. It's here: Kerala Cardamom, whole pods. Questions about the current batch are welcome on WhatsApp at +91 88482 65849.

Frequently asked questions

How many pods make a teaspoon of ground cardamom?

It depends on pod size, but roughly 10 to 12 medium pods give about a teaspoon of ground seeds. Freshly ground seeds are stronger than shop powder, so start with a little less than the recipe says.

Can I eat the husk?

Yes. It's safe, just fibrous and milder than the seeds. In chai or curries you can use the whole pod and strain it out. In sweets most cooks use only the seeds for a smoother texture.

Sources

• Spices Board India, list of GI tags registered for spices