Spices and Medicinal Herbs
Spices and Medicinal Herbs
A complete guide to vegetables, spices & herbs
Spices

What are spices?

Classification of spices
- Allspice
- Black Cardamon
- Green Cardamon
- Cinnamon
- Cumin
- Arecaceae
- Bromeliaceae
- Cyperaceae
- Hydrocharitaceae
- Liliaceae
- Orchidaceae
- Poaceae (or Gramineae)
- Zingiberaceae
- Apiaceae
- Asteraceae
- Betulaceae
- Brassicaceae
- Cactaceae
- Caryophyllaceae
- Cornaceae
- Cucurbitaceae
- Ericaceae
- Euphorbiaceae
- Fabaceae
- Fagaceae
- Lamiaceae
- Lauraceae
- Magnoliaceae
- Nymphaeaceae
- Papaveraceae
- Piperaceae
- Ranunculaceae
- Rosaceae

Herbs

What are herbs?

Classification of herbs
Annual herbs
Biennial Herbs
Perennial Herbs


Vegetables
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Spice : Black Cardamom

(Botanical Name : Amomum subulatum

Classification

Spice Description

Black cardamom has a fresh and aromatic aroma which is complex in nature. It can be described as slightly sweet, floral, and spicy with citric elements. Camphor is easily discernible in its odour which gives a strong smoky flavour. It leaves the tongue with a warm antiseptic sensation similar to eucalyptus and a pepper like after taste.

The fruit is 4 to 6 times size of small cardamom. The seed has had the outer pod, or cardamom fruit, removed so that only the pure seeds remain.

Generally the seeds are crushed or ground prior to use, which provides plenty of cardamom flavor at a more economical price.

History

It is native to the Eastern Himalayas; the main production regions are Nepal and Sikkim, a tiny Indian union state located between Nepal and Bhutan.

They are distributed all over the mountainous area from the Himalayas to Southern China. They are also found in Africa (Madagascar, Somalia and Cameroon).

Plant Description

The cardamom plants are perennial and usually grow to be large bushes consisting of long, straight slender stems with numerous symmetrical, dark green, pointed leaves.

The cardamom plant has a thick fleshy root called a rhizome, or an under ground stem from which shoots emerge.

It has beautiful little, lightly colored flowers that appear most of the year and produce the green cardamom fruits. These green pods are picked before reaching maturity and usually contain approximately 12 cardamom seeds.

Parts Used

The whole pod and seeds are used.

Preparation & Storage

The whole cardamom can be used in cooking.

The seeds can be ground in a mill and powder can be used in different cooking recipes.

They can be used either by frying whole or pounding with other spices.

They should be store in an airtight container.

Chemical constituents

The seeds contain 3% of an essential oil, which is dominated by 1,8-cineol. Smaller and variable amounts of limonene, terpinene, terpineol, terpinyl acetate and sabinene are also been reported.

Culinary Uses

Culinary Uses

Medicinal Uses

Other Names