Used plant part
Seeds. Commonly, the large (typically, 3 cm), brown pods are sold as a whole.

Plant family
Zingiberaceae (ginger family).

Sensory quality
Black cardamom has a fresh and aromatic aroma. Camphor is easily discernible in its odour. By virtue of the traditional drying procedure over open flames, the spice also acquires a strong smoky flavour. See also negro pepper for another example of a “smoked” spice.

Main constituents
The seeds contain 3% of an essential oil, which is dominated by 1,8-cineol (more that 70%). Smaller and variable amounts of limonene, terpinene, terpineol, terpinyl acetate and sabinene have also been reported (Phytochemistry, 9, 665, 1970)

Origin
Several species of the genus Amomum are distributed all over the mountainous area from the Himalayas to Southern China. Furthermore, some African cardamoms (genus Aframomum , in Madagascar, Somalia and Cameroon; another member of this genus is the pungent West African spice grains of paradise) have a similar taste and appear sporadically on the Western market.

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

Etymology
For the botanical genus name Amomum and for cardamom. The botanical species name subulatum derives from Latin subula “awl”, referring probably to the awl-shaped and pointed leaves.

Selected Links

Chinese Herb Database: Villous Amomom Fruit
New Black Cardamom Drying Technique (teri.res.in)
Sorting Amomum names (www.plantnames.unimelb.edu.au)
Black Cardamom Product Information (spizes.com) INDU-Versand

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BLACK CARDAMOM

Black Cardamom is, in most books, described as an inferior substitute to green cardamom, but this is simply untrue. In India, black cardamom has its special field of application, and although green and black cardamoms are frequently interchangeable, the black variety is felt superior for spicy and rustic dishes, while green cardamom is much preferred by the Imperial (Mughal) cuisine with its subtle blend of sweet fragrances. 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 2cm (A. subulatum, Nepal to North Vietnam) to more than 5cm (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. 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 and are less frequently found in other Chinese cooking styles. The term xiang liao “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.