Cardamom is considered to be one of the world’s oldest spices. Cardamom spice is the small black seeds in tiny green pods, or black in case of black cardamom. You can use the whole pods (remove them before serving the dish) or powder the seeds and add that. You don’t need to discard the skin (pods) and even though they cannot be used as spice because they are extremely fibrous, you can still use them in infusions. In Indian and Middle Eastern cuisine, cardamom is very popular in curries and is generally one of the spices used in their typical spice blends.

In Asia, this spice is often used to make cardamom tea, a traditional drink.