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Cardamons
(Elettaria cardamomum)
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Cardamons
Where To Find It: Southern India.
The large perennial herb. yielding Cardamom seeds is known in
its own country as 'Elattari' or 'Ilachi,' while 'Cardamomum' was
the name by which some Indian spice was known in classical times.
It has a large, fleshy rhizome, and the alternate, lanceolate
leaves are blades from 1 to 2 1/2 feet long, smooth and dark green
above, pale, glaucous green and finely silky beneath. The flowering
stems spread horizontally near the ground, from a few inches to
2 feet long, and bear small, loose racemes, the small flowers being
usually yellowish, with a violet lip. The fruits are from 2/5 to
4/5 of an inch long, ovoid or oblong, bluntly triangular in section,
shortly beaked at the apex, pale yellowish grey in colour, plump,
and nearly smooth. They are three-celled, and contain in each cell
two rows of small seeds of a dark, reddish-brown colour. These should
be kept in their pericarps and only separated when required for
use. Though only the seeds are official, the retention of the pericarp
is an obstacle to adulteration, while it contains some oil and forms
a good surface for grinding the seeds. The value is estimated by
the plumpness and heaviness of the fruits and the soundness and
ripeness of the seeds. Unripe seeds are paler and less plump. The
unbroken fruits are gathered before they are quite ripe, as the
seeds of fruits which have partially opened are less aromatic, and
such fruits are less valued. The seeds have a powerful, aromatic
odour, and an agreeable, pungent, aromatic taste, but the pericarps
are odourless and tasteless.
There is some confusion as to the different kinds, both botanically
and commercially, different writers distinguishing them in varied
ways.
The official Cardamums in the United States are stated to be only
those produced in India, chiefly in Malabar and Mysore, but in Britain
the seeds corresponding most closely to the official description
are recognized, in spite of their names, as being imported from
Ceylon.
The Cardamom is a native of Southern India, and grows abundantly
in forests 2,500 to 5,000 feet above sea-level in North Canara Coorgi
and Wynaad, where it is also largely cultivated. It flowers in April
and May and the fruit-gathering lasts in dry weather for three months,
starting in October. The methods of cultivating and preparing vary
in different districts.
In the Bombay Presidency the fruits are washed by women with water
from special wells and pounded soap nut (a kind of acacia). They
are dried on house-roofs, the stalks clipped, and sometimes a starchy
paste is sprinkled over them, in addition to the bleaching.
Bombay ships about 250,000 lb. annually to the London market.
They were formerly known by their shapes as shorts, short-longs,
and long-longs, but the last are now rarely seen. One hundred
parts of the fruit yield on an average 74 parts of seeds and 26
of pericarp. The powdered seeds may be distinguished from the powdered
fruit by the absence of the tissues of the pericarp.
The seeds are about 1/5 of an inch long, angular, wrinkled, and
whitish inside. They should be powdered only when wanted for use,
as they lose their aromatic properties.
In Great Britain and the United States Cardamums are employed
to a small extent as an ingredient of curry powder, and in Russia,
Sweden, Norway, and parts of Germany are largely used for flavouring
cakes and in the preparation of liqueurs, etc. In Egypt they are
ground and put in coffee, and in the East Indies are used both as
a condiment and for chewing with betel. Their use was known to the
ancients. (There are constant references to Cardamom Seeds in The
Arabian Nights. - EDITOR) In France and America the oil is used
in perfumery.
The seeds contain volatile oil, fixed oil, salt of potassium,
a colouring principle, starch, nitrogenous mucilage, ligneous fibre,
an acrid resin, and ash. The volatile oil contains terpenes, terpineol
and cineol. Good 'shorts' yield about 4-6 per cent. It is colourless
when fresh, but becomes thicker, more yellow, and less aromatic.
It is very soluble in alcohol and readily soluble in four volumes
of 70 per cent. alcohol, forming a clear solution.
Its specific gravity is 0.924 to 0.927 at 25 degrees C. (77 degrees
F.). It is not used medicinally, but solely for pharmaceutical purposes,
being employed as a flavouring in the compound spirit and compound
elixir of Cardamums, and in other elixirs and mixtures. It is largely
adulterated, owing to the high price of the seeds and the small
percentage of volatile oil found in them.
Modern Uses: Carminative, stimulant,
aromatic, but rarely used alone; chiefly useful as an adjuvant or
corrective.
The seeds are helpful in indigestion and flatulence, giving a
grateful but not fiery warmth. When chewed singly in the mouth the
flavour is not unpleasant, and they are said to be good for colic
and disorders of the head.
In flavouring they are combined with oils of Orange, Cinnamon,
Cloves, and Caraway.
The substitution of glycerine for honey in the 1880 United States'
formula for compound tincture increased its stability.
Other Names: Amomum Cardamomum. Alpinia
Cardamomum. Matonia Cardamomum. Cardamomum minus. Amomum repens.
Cardamomi Semina. Cardamom Seeds. Malabar Cardamums. Ebil. Kakelah
seghar. Capalaga. Gujatatti elachi. Ilachi. Ailum.
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