Green Cardamom Pods

Cardamom is a spice made from the seed pods of various plants in the ginger family. The entire pod can be used whole or it can be ground. Cardamom has a warm, bitter, slightly lemon flavor. Green Cardamom is known as a true cardamom and is most often used to sweeten dishes. Nik Sharma mentions in his book, The Flavor Equation, that "vanilla in European desserts performed the role that cardamom did in many Indian desserts." It matches well with cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves or garam masala.