Curry & Cardamon Pods

[Rykard]

HI,
we made lamb rogan josh last night, the recipe called for lightly ground cardamon pods. I split them all(4) and the little seedss came out whilst cooking. These were really hot when eaten.. should I leave the pods unground or should I just crack them so the seeds stay inside? Apart friom this the recipe seemed ok...

 

[ASC1951]

I usually leave them whole, certainly for a stew.

 

[Fnaar]

Crush them to open up the pods. I use them in chillis and curries... eating a home-made chilli right now, in fact... the kids hate them, and fish them out of their dinner to give to me, as I love 'em

 

[User169]

Usually just give them whack with the rolling pin and chuck em in.

 

[oliglynn]

I've done a few curries with them in, mostly chucked in whole, one I think I took out the seeds and ground them. All came out beautifully! Rogan josh I recall involved putting them in whole.

Have been making curry at home since a year ago when I received a recipe book for Christmas... best present ever! I much prefer home-made to takeaway now!

 

[buddha]

Split them and grind the black seeds. The green 'shell' is bitter and should be chucked AFAIK.

Lamb Rogan - yum

 

[citybabe]

put them in whole if you want a milder curry. or bash a couple open for a stronger one.

I love rogan josh

 

[TheDoctor]

Open pods and grind seeds for me.
I then chuck 'em in with the rest of the spices and fry, just before I add whatever liquid is going in.
Rogan Josh? Delish!!!

 

[Arch]

I'm sure I've accidentally chomped a whole pod left in a curry by mistake, and don't remember it being hot, just very strongly flavoured.

I tend to leave them whole, perhaps lightly mangled with the flat of a knife and the heel of my hand.

 

[Fnaar]

I'm sure I've accidentally chomped a whole pod left in a curry by mistake, and don't remember it being hot, just very strongly flavoured.

I eat them anyway... lovely jubbly!

 

[vernon]

[QUOTE 1330662"]
I tear the pods and then throw them in to boil with water, tea bags, sugar, garam masarla, milk.

Sieve then drink.

Lovely.
[/quote]

Yes indeedy though I only do this once in a blue moon.

 

[vernon]

Cardamom seeds are not hot. They can be strongly flavoured especially when very fresh. The skins are not bitter but there's no need to eat them if you don't want to.

The best Asian cookbooks that I have come across are written by Pat Chapman. All of the recipes are foolproof and deliver very tasty restaurant quality meals.

 

[Monsieur Remings]

If I have a mixture of seeds to use like cardamon pods, cumin and coriander etc I sometimes heat them up in a dry pan (no oil) , take them out before they burn and then crush them in the pessel and mortar. This way it's best to take away the husks because there's nowt left in them and crush the black innards as with the rest of the spices. Usually do add a few with the husks on too, but the method I've described has always created a fuller flavour in my experience.

 

[Cubist]

I presume you are talking about the green cardomums, elachi? These are usually used as a flavouring for sweet dishes such as Ras Malai (they are the main flavour in anything labelled "malai" such as malai kulfi) and shouldn't be hot as such. Crock's recipe above for char is my favourite use, but I can't ever remember using garam masala in tea?!

Savoury dishes such as pilau rice use them lightly crushed and tossed in whole.
Some recipes do ask for them to be seeded and ground, but just crushing them and tossing them in should do it. They are aromatic rather than spicy.

Black cardomums have a darker, almost smoky flavour, and feature in heavy winter dishes such as the slow-cooked lamb recipe I posted in recipe thread.

 

[threebikesmcginty]

The best Asian cookbooks that I have come across are written by Pat Chapman. All of the recipes are foolproof and deliver very tasty restaurant quality meals.

Hadn't heard of him - he's a got a website with some yummy recipes!

http://www.patchapman.co.uk/page/indian-recipes