Healthy Christmas spice cardamom

What would be pepper nuts and speculoos without cardamom? The noble spice also refines cakes, bread, tart, fruit salad, fruit compote and milk desserts. In Scandinavia, the dried seeds are used for pastries, pies and sausages. Cardamom gives an oriental touch to rice dishes with lamb and poultry, soups, sauces, chutneys and vegetable pans. In Arab countries, coffee and tea are flavored with a pinch of spice. Cardamom is a component of many well-known spice blends such as curry powder and "garam masala" for the preparation of Indian curry.
Cardamom is a perennial with thick rhizomes and pointed leaves. The plant belongs to the family of ginger plants and is native to South India and Sri Lanka. The first harvest takes place in the third year, whereby not the root, but the fruit is used. In the triangular capsules, which grow over the ground like strings, are the brown-black sticky seeds. They are picked by hand shortly before maturity and unfold their aroma only when drying. The seeds contain essential oils, which have an appetizing and digestive effect. They should also help with flatulence and stomach pain.

Stimulates the appetite: cardamom. Image: phive2015 - fotolia

Cardamom is still one of the world's most expensive spices today. German supermarkets tend to find green cardamom - whole capsules or ground powder. It has a slightly flowery taste with a sweetish pungency reminiscent of eucalyptus. The black version features an earthy aroma with smoked notes, which is more suitable for spicy. Whole capsules are the best choice as they preserve the aroma of the black seeds they contain. Only shortly before consumption, the seeds are released from the capsule and ground. But you can also open it easily with the mortar, cook it all together and then remove it again. When shopping you should look for intact capsules with lime green color. When stored dry, cool and protected from light, they are stable for about a year. (Heike Kreutz, aid)