One of the worlds most expensive spices (next to saffron and vanilla). It is widely used in cooking in Scandinavian, Sri Lanka, India and Iran. Cardamom has a strong, intensely aromatic fragrance with a warm spicy-sweet flavor.

Cardamom can be purchased in pod or ground form. Cardamom is best stored in pod form, because once the seeds are exposed or ground, they quickly lose their flavor. 1 ½ teaspoons of ground cardamom is about the equivalent of 10 pods.

Because its flavor is very different to the less commonly used black cardamom, one should not be substituted for the other.

Click here for recipes using Cardamom.