Recipes
Spices - Cardamom
Most of the recipes requiring cardamom that you find on the web and in recipe books, use whole pods as is, or lightly crushing the pods to crack them, or grinding the pods to a powder. I prefer using ground seeds. This entails a bit more effort as you need to get the seeds out of the pods.
You can use your fingernail to split open the pods, but what works quite well is to use a rolling pin and lightly roll it on the pods to crack them.
Using a rolling pin to crack the pods
It is then very easy to open them and drop the seeds into your mortar.
Cardamom seeds in the mortar
The seeds can then be ground as finely as you like.
Cardamom is one of the spices that I prefer grinding just before cooking time. The exception is when I make a batch of Durban Masala, as I usually grind enough spices for at least three curry dishes.
(9 August 2023)
