Cardamom seeds

The cardamom tree, a close relation to ginger, is indigenous to southern India (especially Kerala, where the variety is known as Mysore) and Sri Lanka (where it is called the Malabar variety or wild cardamom). The world’s spice bins overflow with a variety from Allepey (Kerala), the plump green pods considered the true cardamom. (These same green pods are also sun-bleached white and sold in grocery stores as white cardamom; besides aesthetics, I really don’t see any reason why, since the flavors remain unaffected.) Another large kind, with black pods and big black seeds, grows in eastern India, in Assam and Bengal; it is called black cardamom or kala elaichi. The green ones are menthol-like, aromatic, subtle, and sweet-smelling, while the black ones are smoky, strong, and slightly bitter.