Benefits of Cardamom And Uses

Benefits of Cardamom

Cardamom is native to the evergreen forests of India. This spice is commonly used in Indian cuisine, but it has also made its way into Ayurvedic medicine as a treatment for mouth ulcers, digestive problems, and even depression. Some of the health benefits of this peppery, citrusy spice are now making their way into modern studies. It’s well worth adding cardamom to your food for the flavor alone, but these health benefits are also something to consider whenever you break out the spices.

Digestion
​Cardamom is related to ginger and can be used in much the same way to counteract digestive problems. Use it to combat nausea, acidity, bloating, gas, heartburn, loss of appetite, constipation, and much more.

Detoxify
This spice helps the body eliminate waste through the kidneys.

Halitosis
In India they chew cardamom after meals or whenever they need to freshen their breath.

Diuretic
Part of the reason cardamom is such a good detoxifier is thanks to the diuretic properties. It helps clean out the urinary tract, bladder, and kidneys, removing waste, salt, excess water, toxins, and combating infections too.

Depression
The science behind the antidepressant qualities of cardamom hasn’t been studied yet, but Ayurvedic medicine swears by the tea as a means to fight depression.

Oral Health
Apart from helping with bad breath, cardamom is used for mouth ulcers and infections of the mouth and throat.

Cold and Flu
This pungent spice may help prevent and relieve cold and flu symptoms. It’s also used for bronchitis and coughs.

Cancer
Animal studies are showing promise that cardamom protects against, inhibits growth, and even kills some cancers.

Blood Pressure
As a diuretic and fiber rich spice, cardamom significantly lowers blood pressure.

Blood Clots
Cardamom prevents dangerous blood clots by preventing platelet aggregation and the sticking to the artery walls.

Antioxidant
Many of the vitamins, phytonutrients, and essential oils in cardamom act as antioxidants, cleaning up free radicals and resisting cellular aging.

Pathogens
The volatile essential oils in cardamom inhibit the growth of viruses, bacteria, fungus, and mold.

Anti-inflammatory
Like ginger and turmeric, its relatives, cardamom has some anti-inflammatory properties that limit pain and swelling, especially in mucus membranes, the mouth, and throat.

Hiccups
Cardamom is an anti-spasmodic that can help get rid of hiccups. This also applies to other involuntary muscle spasms, like stomach and intestinal cramps.
Green Coriander (Dhaniya) Benefits

Aphrodisiac
Traditional medicine lists cardamom as a powerful aphrodisiac that can help with erectile dysfunction and impotence.

Cardamom Uses:

Cardamom is a spice made from the seed pods of various plants in the ginger family. Cardamom has a strong, pungent flavor and aroma, with hints of lemon, mint, and smoke.

Cardamom pods contain a number of seeds, but the entire cardamom pod can be used whole or ground. There are two main types of cardamom: black cardamom and green cardamom.

Cardamom is used mainly in Indian cooking as well as Middle Eastern cuisine.

In Indian recipes, whole cardamom pods are used in preparing basmati rice and various curries. In Middle Eastern recipes, ground cardamom is used in preparing certain desserts.

Interestingly enough, one of the countries that consumes the most cardamom is Sweden, where cardamom is employed to season everything from baked goods to hamburgers and meat loaves.

Baking With Cardamom

Like the Swedes (and other Scandinavians, such as the Finns and Norweigians), you can use cardamom in your apple pie recipes. Consider the fact that cardamom is frequently combined with spices such as cinnamon and cloves (again, think curries and basmati rice).

Furthermore, consider that cinnamon and cloves are quite standard ingredients in apple pies, pumpkin pies and banana breads (frequently in conjunction with nutmeg).

Thus, it represents merely a short culinary leap to say that cardamom can be used in any of your usual autumn and winter recipes—whether it's spice cakes, puddings, casseroles and pear or apple tarts.

Consider adding a dash of it to your streusel topping before applying it to your muffins and coffeecakes.

Cardamom in Drinks

And don't forget drinks: everything from mulled wine to hot cider to eggnog will benefit from an unexpected hint of cardamom. 

You can also add cardamom to coffee and tea for a fragrant and festive twist.

For coffee: Simply grind up 3 to 4 whole cardamom seeds along with your coffee beans and pour your hot water over as usual. Some traditions grind the whole pod, but it's fine to use the seeds only.

If you're using cardamom in a recipe, ideally you'd start with whole cardamom pods. If you buy ground cardamom (i.e. cardamom powder) from the spice section, it won't be as flavorful since the essential oils of the cardamom seed will lose their flavor relatively quickly after the seeds are ground.

Your best bet is to start with whole cardamom pods and toast them in a dry skillet for a few minutes. Let them cool for a minute and then remove the seeds from the pods. Grind the seeds in a ​mortar and pestle for best results, or you can use a motorized spice grinder (like a coffee grinder).

Just be sure to clean your coffee grinder thoroughly after using it to grind cardamom. Then again, you might find a faint hint of cardamom in your coffee to be thoroughly enchanting!