Cardamom black - aroma and taste
Cardamom black has a tart, bitter, and smoky taste. It smells like eucalyptus and is an intense spice with a characteristic smoky aroma during drying over an open fire. Please use it sparingly. This spice is a popular ingredient in traditional Indian spice blends like Garam Masala.
Brown cardamom in Indian cuisine
The typical cuisine of India and Pakistan uses black cardamom. Typical dishes of this region are stew dishes such as sag gosht or murgh masala. Where sag gosht is a lamb pot with a spicy spinach sauce, and murgh masala is a chicken dish, with a spicy tomato sauce, with lots of onions.
As it is common in India, they fry the spices in a pan before use. Therefore they either use oil or do it without oil. The Nepal-cardamom is also broken and roasted in oil. Thus it develops its full, intense aroma. As already mentioned, it is a spice of the everyday cuisine of this region. And it is used in many dishes and often in combination with garlic, chili, and ginger. You can also cook the whole brown cardamom.
Brown cardamom is an exciting spice.
You can complete the smoky and tart aroma of brown cardamom with cloves and cinnamon. It also goes well with Ajowan, Sichuan pepper, nutmeg, star anise, black pepper, and fennel.
Black Cardamom vs. green
Black Cardamom also bears the names brown Cardamom or Nepal-Cardamom. It comes from the eastern Himalayan states of Nepal and Bhutan. It is not to be confused with the small green cardamom capsules. They are descended from plants of the same plant family, the ginger plants - Zingiberaceae, but are very different in taste and appearance. They are two other spices.
The green cardamom has a fresh, sweet, and spicy-hot aroma and exudes a fragrance of lemon, eucalyptus, sandalwood, rose, and honey. This composition and diversity make it something special, and you may also use it for the backing of cakes.
The Nepal-Cardamom has a bitter, tart-smokey taste.
