Green Or Black Cardamom

Our answer

Nigella's Apricot And Almond Cake With Rosewater And Cardamom (from SIMPLY NIGELLA) uses two cardamom pods to flavour the poached apricots. The cardamom pods used in the cake are the green ones.

Green cardamom has a fairly unique flavour, some think it is slightly minty or citrussy, but is slightly sweet and so is the type of cardamom that most people use in baking and desserts, though it can also be used in savoury cooking. Sometimes the pods are bleached to make white cardamom, though this is difficult to find and green cardamom can often be used as a substitute. Black cardamom comes from a different, but related, plant and the pods are usually larger. The pods have a savoury, slightly umami quality and are toasted on an open fire which gives them a smoky element too. The flavour is much more assertive and the black pods are used in garam masala and in savoury cooking.