Did you know a lot of chronological Indian content mention Cardamom as a flavoring agent and medicine? There are recipes of sherbets and rice dishes flavored with Cardamom. Cardamom became an object of trade with South Asia in the last thousand years when Arab traders brought it into extensive use. Exports from the Malabar shore, close to where Cardamom’s grew untamed, were portrayed by the Portuguese traveler, Barbosa, in 1524. By the time of Garcia DA Orta in 1563, the worldwide trade in Cardamom’s was finely urbanized. Kerala continued to dominate the cardamom trade until the colonial era.

It was bought by the Raja’s administrators from India, and some of it was sold to Muslim merchants while the most excellent quality was sold abroad. In the 19th century British settlement established Cardamom as a secondary crop in coffee agricultural in further parts of India. But it’s Guatemala, which only started growing the spice in the 1920s, that’s the biggest commercial producer today, overtaking India and Sri Lanka. In some parts of Guatemala, it has even overtaken coffee as its most valuable crop!

Cardamom is largely used in South Asia and South America it has been known to help teeth and gums issues, to help control and take care of throat troubles, congestion of the lungs, inflammation of eyelids and also digestive disorders. It is also used to break up kidney stones and gall stones, and was apparently used as an antidote for venom from both snakes, and scorpions.