Herbs & foods5 min
Elaichi (green cardamom): the queen of spices for digestion, breath and a calmer chai
Green cardamom perfumes kheer, chai and biryani, and a pod chewed after meals freshens the breath and settles the stomach. It's one of the gentlest digestive spices, balancing heavier or caffeine-rich foods.
The Ayurvedic view
Ela is described in Ayurveda as sweet and pungent, mildly cooling in effect despite its warming aroma, and suitable for all three doshas. It's traditionally added to milk and coffee to counter their heaviness and stimulating effects, and used for nausea, bad breath, gas and a sluggish appetite. Black cardamom (badi elaichi), smoky and much stronger, is a different spice used in savoury dishes and is more heating.
Ingredients
- Green cardamom pods
- For elaichi chai: 1 cup water, ½ cup milk, 1 teaspoon tea leaves, 2 crushed pods, a thin slice of ginger (optional)
- For elaichi-mishri: 10 pods and 2 tablespoons mishri
How to prepare
- Elaichi chai: boil water with crushed cardamom and ginger for 2 minutes, add tea leaves and milk, simmer and strain.
- Elaichi-mishri: remove seeds from the pods and pound them coarsely with the mishri. Store in a small jar.
How to use
- Chew one pod (or a pinch of the seeds) after meals, or when you feel queasy while travelling.
- Add crushed cardamom to milk, tea and coffee — it's traditionally believed to soften their heaviness.
- Take a pinch of elaichi-mishri after spicy meals.
Helpful habits
- Crush pods just before use; the aroma fades quickly once seeds are exposed.
- Plump, green pods are fresher than pale, shrivelled ones.
Precautions
- Cardamom in food is very safe, including in pregnancy.
- People with gallstones should avoid large, medicinal amounts, as cardamom may stimulate gallbladder activity.
- People with diabetes should skip the mishri.
- Persistent nausea, vomiting or bad breath that doesn't improve with dental care needs a doctor's check.
