New Delhi, 19 May (IANS). You will be surprised to know how many varieties, fragrances and tastes are hidden in small looking cardamom! Most people know only green cardamom, but do you know that cardamom is black, white and even red and all these are completely different from each other not only in color, but also in the way of taste, fragrance and use.
Sythia Shanmugalingam, a chef and owner of Rambutan Restaurant in London, says cardamom is my favorite masala, its fragrance reminds me of childhood sweets. Cardamom is a thing to be used in all types of food. It also enhances taste in salty and sharp food. With this you can make sweet and spicy too, such as pouring it in kheer or in biryani, both tastes the taste.
Cardamom roots are in South India. Although cardamom has many colors, but the most common is green cardamom. It is most commonly used. Black cardamom is very fast in taste. It is used in salty and spicy foods. Red cardamom is mostly used in Chinese and Asian kitchens. White cardamom is not common in India. It is green cardamom which is bleeding and lightening its color.
Rupa Gulati, writer of the book called Indian Kitchen, says that sometimes she puts both green and black cardamom in the same dish. The taste of these two is completely different. If you are making aromatic rice or kheer, black cardamom should not be added to it, because its sharp aroma presses all the other tastes. Its taste is sharp and smokey. It is much faster than green cardamom.
Rupa Gulati says that black cardamom meets meat curry, lamb casserole, rice spicy dishes and hot spices. Its taste is one that gives the dish a strong base. A dish named Kashmiri Yakhni contains a lot of spices, but if you put two black cardamom in it, then it increases the level of the dish.
He says that black cardamom can also be used in sweet. Like- in deep sweet things like dates. Its smokey flavor is also good there. The taste of red cardamom is similar to black cardamom. But in India it is usually not used in cooking. When needed, it is used instead of black cardamom.
The taste of green cardamom is fresh and slightly like lemon. Rupa Gulati reported that she puts green cardamom in cake batter, sweets, and kheer. Sometimes she boils slowly by putting green cardamom pods in milk, so that her fragrance is found well.
Shanmugalingam says that she uses green cardamom in Sri Lankan coconut custard pudding vatalappam. But at the same time she also puts it in casserole, biryani, lentils and chicken marinade, because its light taste looks good with many things. White cardamom is made of green cardamom. It is bleached. Its taste is very light. You can also put it in cake, kheer, creamy sweets.
They told that if you want vigorous and sharp taste, put cardamom seeds in oil. First tear it down or make a hole, otherwise it can burst in hot oil. At the same time, the ground cardamom works best in things like cake, marinade. But grinding is not easy. Grinding its seeds is a very hard work. While grinding, add a little castor sugar to it. This sugar works like a worn out, causing seeds to grind quickly and easily. After grinding the seeds, it should be used quickly, otherwise it starts to smell stale.
-IANS
PK/AS
