Spice Garden….Cardamom Plantation

In the picture one can see Green Cardamom flower as well as seeds ready for picking and processing which I clicked in a Spice Garden in Thekkedy(Kerala)India.

“Cardamom”sometimes called as cardamum too is a spice made from the seeds of several plants in the genera “Elettaria”and “Amomum”in the family “Zingiberaceae”.

Both genera are native to the Indian subcontinent and Indonesia. They are recognized by their small seed pods being triangular in cross-section and spindle–shaped, with a thin, papery outer shell and small, black seeds.

“Elettaria”pods are light green and smaller, while “Amomum”pods are larger and dark brown.

Types and distribution

The two main types of cardamom are:

▪ True or green cardamom called as Elaichi mostly in India is distributed from India to Malaysia.

▪ Black cardamom, also known as brown, longer, or Nepal cardamom, is native to the eastern Himalayas and mostly cultivated in Eastern Nepal, Sikkim, and parts of Darjeeling district in West Bengal of India, and southern Bhutan.

These are Green Cardamom flowers in bloom I clicked at a Spice Garden in Thekkedy(Kerala).

The first references to the trade in cardamom is evidenced from Sri Lanka, where it used to be grown on a small scale in “montane forests” in the central mountain ranges, since 12th century.

Nowadays, it is also cultivated in some other countries, such as Guatemala, Malaysia and Tanzania.

The German coffee planter Oscar Majus Kloeffer introduced Indian cardamom in kerala in India.

By the year 2000, Guatemala had become the biggest producer and exporter of cardamom in the world, followed by India.

Cardamom is the world’s third-most expensive spice, surpassed in price per weight only by vanilla and saffron.

While traveling from Munnar to Thakkedy in Kerala by Road came across many such Spice gardens on both sides of the road with different other species of spices and condiments.

In India Cardamom has a multifarious use both as a mouth freshner and a very strong ingredient in both veg and non-veg dishes.

Compiled all these information from various sources in the general interest of knowing the varieties of “Fauna of our Planet”.

#PhotoBySiba