Cardamom

Cardamom is cultivated in a large scale in the hills of Idukki in Kerala. Cardamom or the queen of spices is a famous spices commonly used in Kerala cuisine as flavouring agents. Kerala boasts of the biggest cardamom market in the world which is in Kumily, near Munnar.Cardamom is a perennial and herbaceous plant Cardamom plants normally start bearing two years after planting. In most of the areas the peak period of harvest is during October-November. Picking is carried out at an interval of 15-25 days. Ripe capsules are harvested in order to get maximum green colour during curing. After harvest, capsules are dried either in fuel kiln or electrical drier or in the sun. It has been found that soaking the freshly harvested green cardamom capsules in 2% washing soda solution for 10 minutes prior to drying helps to retain the green colour during drying. When drier is used, it should be dried at 45-50o C for 14-18 hours, while for kiln, over night drying at 50-60 o C is required. The capsules kept for drying are spread thinly and stirred frequently to ensure uniform drying. The dried capsules are rubbed with hands or coir mat or wire mesh and winnowed to remove any foreign matter. They are then sorted out according to size and colour, and stored in black polythene lined gunny bags to retain the green colour during storage.