Cardamom may very well be my favorite spice. Often used in eastern cuisine, it has a rich, warm flavor and is related to ginger. It is grown in pods and boasts many health benefits including improving digestion, lowering cholesterol and curing the hiccups (it’s an anti-spasmodic!).
You typically see cardamom sold ground, but when Merit Trade sent me some of their beautiful whole, green cardamom pods, I was really excited to use it in its original form.
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| Merit Trade’s Colombian Cardamom |
When I first came to New York City, I was friends with a group of Colombians and they introduced me to cardamom coffee (cafe cardamomo), which is coffee with cardamom infused milk. It’s like your normal coffee took on a beautiful earthy spice to it and I was immediately hooked. I figured this would be the perfect way to use my Colombian cardamom! This recipe is for the cardamom coffee but you could really add the cardamom-infused milk to many things (coffee, tea, etc).
I am happy to be giving away two bags of Merit Trade’s Colombian Cardamom to two random readers! To enter simply comment on this post with your favorite way to use cardamom or how you would use it. I will select two winners at random on Sunday, November 24th (I can only ship to folks in the US, sorry international friends!). Please make sure I have a way to get in touch with you – either a link to your blog or email.
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| Green Cardamom Pods |
- Milk
- 1 cardamom pod or a pinch of ground cardamom per cup of coffee
- Coffee (anything works - French press, drip, instant)
- Sugar (if desired)
- Start by beginning to prepare your coffee in your preferred method.
- Take a cardamom pod and crack it open. I used the back of a wooden spoon to give it a 'smack'.
- Remove the seeds from the pod (it should smell amazing) and give them a light smush. This will encourage the flavor to come out.
- Drop the cardamom seeds into a small sauce pot with some milk (I use about ⅓ cup of 1% cows milk). Simmer for about 5 minutes to let the flavors infuse.
- Pour the milk into your coffee mug through a strainer, then add the coffee and sugar to it. Enjoy!
Really enjoyed reading your blog! I love a little cardamom in my rice pudding!
Although I love cardamom (it is my favorite spice), I shall give my place to another. I admit to being more of a lazy consumer than one who will actually do something with these heavenly seeds.
I have had cardamom raw (cracked slightly between the teeth) and there are many who enjoy the flavor that way.
An amazing aroma that takes me back to a different place and time.
Why you need two packs?!! Gimme one!!
PJJ
I decorticate cardamom and mix it into my chai tea, with honey included as well. The honey sweetens my chai, and the cardamom spices it up. Quite a lethal combination. You should try it.
If I win one of the packets, you can send me a notice of victory to pinkyjj@comcast.net Thank You.
PJJ
I use cardamom in my jams; specifically quince jam. As chopped up quince (a apple like fruit but much harder) simmers it gradually turns to a beautiful ruby red color. I add in the whole cardamom seeds and let them cooks and infuse the jam with their spice. A heavenly combination.
Thanks to your blog I now know a new word;
de·cor·ti·cate
remove outer layer from plant: to remove an outer layer such as bark, rind, or a husk from a plant or part of a plant
Awesome idea! Along the same lines, I def want to try and infuse some in my tea.
BTW, the cookies in earlier post were delicious!!
Such createev. Use cardamom in Basundi (sweetened milk). Check this link.http://www.aayisrecipes.com/sweets/sweetened-milkbasundi/
Unfortunately I don’t live in the US 🙁 but if I were to use it I would use it in a mango lassi – my favourite! 🙂
We can only pick ONE favorite recipe on which we use cardamom??? Well, before this fall I would have said Cardamom Chicken, but I recently made a wonderful mistake and used freshly ground cardamom instead of ginger in my Ginger Pennies – they were heavenly!! I will make them that way always now.
I have never used cardamom before but I’d love to learn how to! So far I have several recipes using it collected on my Pinterest board. Would love to win this!
tariqsaleemrana@yahoo.com
I had no idea there was such a thing as cardamom coffee! It sounds lovely, especially for the colder months 🙂 My mom makes a cardamom scented pound cake and it’s definitely my favorite way to enjoy cardamom.
I like cardamom in sweets. Especially fruity sweets. Although chocolate too. GREG
Cardamom is one of my favorite spices as well! Just opening a pod makes me smile. I’m adding it to my coffee tomorrow morning!
Thank you everybody for participating! I’m pleased to announce that Shab and Lawyer Loves Lunch are the lucky winners. I’ll be sending you an email to mail the prizes. Happy thanksgiving all!
Dear Ahu, I came here following David´s (Cocoa and Lavender) recommendation – you have a lovely blog and I am glad that he pointed me your way!
I love spices myself and cardamom is absolutely wonderful for baking and many other usages – I have never had this lovely spice in my coffee though but I will certainly give it a try!
Thanks for sharing this nice recipe! I will take a “look around” for now and enjoy your blog and make sure to come back for more visits!
Andrea
Thank you so much for your visit and lovely comment! Any friend of David is a friend of mine!
My favorite spice! Late for the giveaway but never too late to express admiration for a lovely post and recipe. It’s interesting to find out that using cardamom in coffee is a Columbian practice – my mom likes to take her coffee this way as well.
I guess your mom was onto something delicious!
Happy new year!! You seem busy celebrating your birthday and playing in the snow! Time for a new post!!
PJJ