page_title: Elettaria cardamomum
section_title: Uses
hierarchical_section_title: Elettaria cardamomum / Uses
caption_attribution_description: English: Cardamom Elettaria cardamomum. Français&#160;: Cardamone Elettaria cardamomum.
context_page_description: Elettaria cardamomum, commonly known as green or true cardamom, is a herbaceous, perennial plant in the ginger family, native to southern India. It is the most common of the species whose seeds are used as a spice called cardamom. It is cultivated widely in tropical regions and reportedly naturalized in Réunion, Indochina, and Costa Rica.
context_section_description: The green seed pods of the plant are dried and the seeds inside the pod are used in Indian and other Asian cuisines, either whole or ground. It is the most widely cultivated species of cardamom; for other types and uses, see cardamom.
  True cardamom may have been used in Ayurveda medicine as early as the 4th century BC. Ground cardamom is an ingredient in many Indian curries and is a primary contributor to the flavour of masala chai. In Iran, cardamom is used to flavour coffee and tea. In Turkey, it is used to flavour the black Turkish tea, kakakule.
  In addition to its native range, it is grown in Nepal, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, and Central America. In India, the states of Sikkim and Kerala are the main producers of cardamom; they rank highest both in cultivated area and in production. It was first imported into Europe around 1300 BC. Cardomomum is called caranda mungu (කරඳමුංගු) in Sinhalese.
caption: Cardamom pods as used as spice
exif: {"Image Make": "NIKON CORPORATION", "Image Model": "NIKON D300", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "150", "Image YResolution": "150", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "GIMP 2.4.2", "Image DateTime": "2008:02:14 15:51:05", "Image ExifOffset": "212", "GPS GPSVersionID": "[0, 0, 0, 0]", "Image GPSInfo": "9290", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "9350", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "4500", "EXIF ExposureTime": "8947849/134217728", "EXIF FNumber": "11", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Aperture Priority", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "200", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2008:02:14 13:29:39", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2008:02:14 13:29:39", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "16386687/4194304", "EXIF ApertureValue": "3627477/524288", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "11184811/33554432", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "1557583/524288", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire", "EXIF FocalLength": "70", "EXIF SubSecTime": "", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1696", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1172", "EXIF SensingMethod": "9", "EXIF SceneType": "0", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "105", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "0"}