Management practices
Propagating and Growing Cardamom
Because cardamom is a spice of the tropics it requires abundant rainfall and a mean Temperature of 72º F (22ºC). A cardamom plantation is begun be clearing a site leaving a few trees for shade. The rhizomes are planted among the trees sending up 6 to 8 foot leafy shoots which give the plant a bushy appearance. When mature the plants send up flower spikes that produce the green cardamom capsules. It takes up to four years to obtain a full cardamom crop from such a planting.

Harvesting and Storing
Harvesting time is important to quality and yield. The pods are handpicked when still green but just as the seeds are turning green. Once harvested the pods are dried in the sun or a kiln.
Cardamom is available in three forms. The most useful is pods of which green and white can be found. Inside of each pod are about 20 small black sticky seeds. You can either bruise them and toss them into your pot or peel the skin off and use the seeds whole or ground. If you cannot find whole pods use the ground cardamom available in grocery stores. As with all herbs store in a cool dry place to prevent the oils in the seeds from evaporating. Pods will retain their aroma for one year.
White cardamom is green cardamom that has been chemically bleached. Avoid using white pods as bleaching can remove flavor and aroma.

Using Cardamom in Foods
East Indian, Scandinavian, Arabic and Central African cuisines use cardamom frequently.
It is an essential ingredient in Arabic coffee. The freshly ground seeds are added to the coffee or a few pods are put in the coffeepot. Arabic nomads sometimes own coffeepots that can keep several cardamom capsules in their spouts. It was often traditional to show guests cardamom pods before serving coffee as a sign of respect and esteem. Arabs also use cardamom in meat and rice dishes with other spices.
It is a popular spice in Northern and Eastern Africa. It is used in the Moroccan spice mixture ras el hanout. Scandinavian countries use cardamom for cookies and sweetbreads. Curry contains small amounts of cardamom. It is often used to flavor tea.

Cardamom seeds lose their flavor quickly when ground so buy whole whenever possible. Green pods are superior to white pods for flavor. Green cardamom has a subtle to sweet fragrance. You may also see black or brown cardamom in Asian food store. This is either Nepal cardamom or Chinese cardamom. Neither of these is true cardamom nor both are considered inferior to flavor of green cardamom. The black is used more for spicy or rustic or spicy dishes. Black cardamom takes time to develop aroma.