Green cardamom vs Black cardamom: From uses to benefits, find out which one is best suited for you

Cardamom is the quintessential ingredient in various dishes. It has a distinct flavour and taste. Apart from adding a depth of flavour to dishes, cardamom also has several health benefits like reducing acidity, treating cold and cough and regulating blood sugar levels.

Green cardamom has an intense flavour and is mostly used in sweets and savouries. Not many know, that there is another variety of cardamom, known as black cardamom. Black cardamom has a smoky flavour and is beneficial for health in many ways. Both the cardamoms belong to the same plant family and yet, have a unique taste and add different flavours to a dish. Have a look at some ways in which these 2 types of cardamom are different from each other.

Production

For processing green cardamom, the pods are harvested before the plant reaches maturity and is used as a whole without any further processing. Whereas, with black cardamoms, the pods of it are harvested later and dried over large fire pits.

Benefits

Green cardamom is used to treat a variety of sleep-related problems while black cardamom is said to be effective in alleviating the symptoms of asthma and is most commonly used for treating digestive and gastric issues like constipation and dysentery. 

Flavour

Black cardamom has a smoky and mint-like flavour with dark undertones. While the green cardamom has an intense and strong flavour and aroma. Both these types of cardamoms are used in a variety of sweet and savoury dishes. 

Size 

When it comes to the size of the two types of cardamom, black cardamom has bigger pods as compared to the pods of green cardamom. 

Usage

While green cardamom is mostly used in desserts to add a depth of flavour, and are also used as a spice in many savoury dishes, black cardamom is most commonly used as a spice and not used in sweet dishes.

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