Saturday Spice Spotlight: Cardamom

Today's featured spice is the lovely and fragrant cardomom - also known as grains of paradise.

Cardamom is another spice used frequently in ayurvedic cooking, and for good reason -- it adds fragrant flavor to curry dishes and is a distinctive part of chai tea.  When starting to use cardamom in your food, start off slowly - it can be pretty powerful and distinctive if you've never had it before!  Besides being tasty and spicy-sweet, cardamom has a range of health benefits.

• Like most spices in the ginger family, cardamom aids in digestion.  It's helpful for those who have stomach cramps and gas, and enchances your appetite.
• Cardamom is a great spice to add to dishes when you're cleansing - it helps in the detoxification process
• In small quantities, cardamom helps with blood circulation to the lungs, so it helps when you have bronchitis or asthma.
• I've read that this is good for urinary tract infections here:  Positive Health; it's also great for improving kidney and bladder functions.  That site has a great recipe for a tea which includes our feature spice along with many others.
• Cardamom has relaxing qualitites, and can be used in the same way as chamomile to help relieve stress.

I like to buy my cardamom ground in the bulk department, but you can also buy it in the form of seed or pod.  You can chew the seeds and the pods -- which is pretty fun to do.  You can add this spice to your next vegetable dish, or drink it in this tea recipe that I just tried out and am drinking right now!

• 1 cup milk of your choice, warmed up in a sauce pot to the point of almost boiling
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves I'm secretly not the biggest fan of cloves!
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Mix everything together.  Add a bit of honey or maple syrup if you like.  Sip.  Relax.  Enjoy. 


A bit of a warning -- it's not good for people to have cardamom if they have gallstones or bile obstructions.  Also, if you're pregnant, consult your doctor before adding anything into your medicinal routine.  Also, I'm not a doctor or a professional in anyway -- this is merely just me sharing information.  Speak to your doctor if you'd like to use turmeric for any of the reasons above.  But, using it as a seasoning is promoted highly by me!