Native to the Indian subcontinent, cardamom is used to add exotic depth to dishes from all over the world. Its flavor is wonderfully complex—herbal, spicy, floral, and slightly sweet. From rich stews to sweet-savory desserts to refreshing drinks, it has a breadth of potential uses. We’ve rounded up our favorite cardamom recipes from around the world.
Indian food is known for its flavorful spice blends known as masalas, one of the most famous being garam masala; every Indian cook has their own specific recipe. Ours, from famed cookbook author Madhur Jaffrey, is heavy on the cardamom and also contains cumin, black peppercorns, cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg. From India’s west coast we have a recipe for malabar masala, a mixture of coriander, cumin, cloves, mustard seeds, and eleven other spices.
South and Southeast Asian cuisines are known for their curries, many of which are spiced with cardamom. Our Rajasthani white chicken curry isn’t hot, but it’s certainly flavor-packed thanks to black cumin, green and black cardamom, cinnamon, bay leaves, white peppercorns, white poppy seeds, and other spices. Turning to Thailand, our green chicken curry is made with a homemade curry paste rich with chiles, peppercorn, cilantro, shrimp paste, lime leaves, and more.
And when it comes to sweets, cardamom definitely has its place. Our Vietnamese coffee ice cream has the signature dark-coffee– and-sweetened-condensed-milk–flavor of the drink, and whole cardamom seeds are steeped into the base. Our refreshing sherry granita offsets the sweetness of the dessert wine with black tea and cardamom.
Find all of these dishes and more in our collection of cardamom recipes.

Rock 'N' Rye Peach Jam

The Soul Train

Spiced Chickpeas (Chana Masala)

Indian Rice Pudding (Kheer)

Turkey Momos with Tomato-Cilantro Sauce

Sherry and Cardamom Granita

Cardamom Syrup-Soaked Donuts (Gulab Jamun)

Hot White Chocolate with Cardamom

Nectarine Murabba with Cardamom, Lemon and Rosewater

Ricotta Pancakes in Cardamom Syrup (Malpura)

Pod Thai

Cardamom-Ginger Crunch

Cardamom Chicken Curry

Madison Avenue Manhattan
Spiced Tea (Masala Chai)
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Swedish Cinnamon-and-Cardamom Bread

Braided Cardamom Bread (Pulla)

The Spice Trade

White Chocolate-Cardamom Panna Cotta
Pistachio Ice Cream


Sevaya Kheer (Vermicelli Milk Pudding)

Pakistani Lamb Biryani

Spiced Almond Drink (Thandai)

Shortbread and Prune Jam Layer Cake (Vínarterta)
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Strawberry Compote
Spiced Buttermilk Oatmeal with Dried Fruit and Pecans


Cardamom-Laced Milk Chocolate Truffles

Cardamom Cream Puffs (Semlor)
Bengali Milk Sweets (Sandesh)


Grilled Yogurt-Marinated Lamb Shoulder Chops

Amor y Amargo's Amber Vermouth

Brother James

Sichuan Red Chile Oil (Hong You)

Rajasthani White Chicken Curry (Safed Maans)
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Kashmiri Chile-Braised Lamb (Rogan Josh)
Vietnamese Coffee Ice Cream


Spiced Persimmon Frozen Yogurt
Spiced Braised Rhubarb
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Rhubarb Fizz

Cilantro Mojo

Spiced Goat and Rice Pilaf (Sindhi Biryani)
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Hyderabadi-Style Lamb with Potatoes (Aloo aur Gosht ka Kaliya )
Cream of Fennel Soup
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Garam Masala

Malabar Masala

Chai Iced Tea

Curried Lentils with Poached Eggs

Green Curry Chicken
Iraqi Yellow Spice-Rubbed Chicken (Djaj Bil-Bahar Il-Asfar)

