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| Black Cardamom plants |
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| The pods of black cardamom grow in clusters near ground level. |
Black cardamom can be used in rather liberal amounts, up to a few capsules per person. The smoky fragrance of the pure spice is not discernible in the finished dish; black cardamom cannot dominate a dish, but enhances and intensifies the taste of other ingredients. The pods should be slightly crushed before usage, but not so much that the seeds are released; you may remove them before serving (though I do not), but if you don't, be sure to warn your guests about dark, woody and, hmmm, intensive tasting objects in the sauce.
Black cardamom, as other spices used in Northern India, needs some time to develop its aroma best. This behaviour is shared by other unground spices, like cinnamon, cloves and green cardamom, all of which are popular in Northern India and mostly used unground (see also onion). Thus, it is generally a good idea to prepare Northern Indian dishes of braising type (kormas) a few hours or even one day in advance.
Although there are many distinct species of black cardamom, ranging in pod size from 2 cm (A. subulatum, Nepal to North Vietnam) to more than 5 cm (A. tsao-ko, China), their tastes do not differ much, although only the Nepal variety is smoked. Apart from usage in Indian (and Nepali) cuisine, they are not much known, but have some regional importance in Central and Southern China. There, the ground seeds are an optional ingredient to the five spice powder (see star anise).
In the mountains of Sichuan province in central China, black cardamom is
commonly employed in long-simmered meet stews together with other dried
spices. Long-simmered food, particularly of beef, are rather typical
for Sichuan cookery (see sichuan pepper for
an example) and are less frequently found in other Chinese cooking styles.
The term xiang liao [香料] “fragrant grains”
refers to such mixtures of dried spices which are prepared differently for
each recipe. Typical components of xiang liao are
cassia, Sichuan pepper,
black cardamom, star anise and
lesser galangale; less commonly, Sichuan
cooks employ greater galangale,
cloves, nutmeg and
licorice.
See also cassia on another Chinese cooking technique
that uses dried spices, namely master sauce.
