Elaichi ke do rang

What is kheer without elaichi? Just a medley of milk, rice and sugar! It is the gentle coaxing of the cardamom powder that transforms a simple pudding into a feast fit for the Gods. What is garam masala without elaichi? I would say it is just a thanda masala - nothing worth writing home about! By now it would be clear that I am writing about elaichi/cardamom this week. And it is all in black and white with green! 

This spice of great antiquity, used first by early Egyptians, has come a long way. We Indians love our elaichi…from use of green cardamoms in the chai masala to generous sprinkling of aromatic cardamom powder on kheers, payasams, halwas and mithai, or just chewing on one whole elaichi as it is a wonderful natural mouth freshener and digestive aid…my wife Alyona always has a few choti elaichis stashed in the purse and keeps popping one into her mouth, especially after a meal, as a mouth freshener and a digestive. Why, a paan is incomplete without elaichi! The essential oil of cardamom is used for flavouring certain liquors and also in the manufacture of perfumes. Or then take the large, more strongly flavoured badi elaichi or black cardamom that gives biryanis the flavour that makes it so much a biryani! This spice’s taste differs drastically from that of green cardamom; neither can act as a substitute for the other. 

It is known that the world’s best cardamom comes from Kerala. The pods are fat, green and full of seeds. Nicknamed queen of spices, cardamom is the third most expensive spice of the world after saffron and vanilla. But a small pinch of elaichi powder gives great flavour so the cost is justified. These same green cardamoms when bleached become the less flavoured safed/white elaichi. Badi elaichi or moti elaichi is better known as black cardamom and has a thick covering with slightly sticky seeds. 

Elaichi is a mini dispensary at home. It can help fight nausea. Grandmother’s remedies lists black cardamom mixed with saunf as a major relief for stomach problems. Black cardamom seeds when made into a decoction can be used as a gargle when you get toothache. A mixture of powdered green cardamom seeds with ground ginger, cloves and shahi jeera is helpful in combating digestive ailments. And chewing on cardamom seeds prevents bad breath, indigestion, nausea and vomiting.

Around the world, cardamom-flavoured coffee, a symbol of Arab hospitality, is usually prepared by grinding coffee beans and cardamom pods together and boiling the mixture with sugar in a wood-handled coffee pot. In any case, the finished coffee is served in tiny cups and slowly sipped. Cardamom is rather unknown in Europe but may appear in an occasional cookie recipe. 

Cardamom seeds lose their flavour quickly when ground; even if left whole, the seeds show a loss of about 40% of the essential oil per year. Therefore, only whole cardamom pods should be bought. Tear open the pods (can mix the pods with your tea leaves in the bin, why waste?) and crush the seeds just before use. And this I will bring into practice right away and make myself a well deserved cup of elaichi chai!