A hint of cardamom for that festive flavour

On festival days, my grandmother was always multitasking in the kitchen, cooking the day’s meals while prepping ingredients for the festive goodies on the side.

- NANDITA IYER

(left) Blondies with an Indian twist; and 'piyush'.

(OSES ONLY/ISTOCKPHOTO NANDITA IYER)

Those would be made in the afternoon, after the lunch spread was cleared away. One small job that was always assigned to me as a child, since it involved no sharp instruments or fire, was peeling and crushing green cardamom pods. The pods had to be split open, the seeds scooped out, and then pounded with granulated sugar in a mortar and pestle until the mix turned into a fragrant powder. The papery shells were never discarded; they were tucked into the sugar jar to perfume it with their lingering oils. For years, the scent of green cardamom meant festivals and indulgence.

As adults, we like to treat elaichi as a nuisance. Indian internet is full of memes about biting into an elaichi in a biryani and questioning its very existence. I personally don't mind biting into a green cardamom, but biting into a whole black cardamom is a food nightmare indeed. The best way to tame a whole spice like green cardamom, especially in biryani, is to tie it up with its partners in crime—cloves, cinnamon and bay leaf—in a small muslin pouch and simmer it in the rice water. Once the rice is cooked, the bundle can be lifted out easily. The French call this a bouquet garni, making it sound all gourmet and glam at once.