‘She said nothing with her voice and everything with the way she cared for you.’
It only made sense this week to feature a recipe with cardamom in it, after the beautifully written interview my dear friend Kate Ray from soft leaves wrote about my culinary journey and relationship with cardamom. To read the full article and to subscribe to her blog follow this link:
https://kateray.substack.com/p/the-secret-ingredient-cardamom
I discovered my love of cardamom through my Grandmothers food. She used it in sweet and savoury dishes. It was in her Friday vegetable rice as well as her chai and desserts. You’ll find it featured in many of my dishes on the blog, in cookies, scones and tea. I love it for its calming effect on the nervous system and natural sweet aroma. It also reminds me of my grandma. Not just due to the dishes she used it in, but in how she made me feel.
‘The fragrance of cardamom instantly brings me joy and calms me, like an overwhelming feeling that whatever is going on, it is going to be okay.
That’s how I felt being around my Grandma.’
This sweet masala is based on a recipe from Divya Alter’s, ‘What to eat for how you feel.’ It is typical of a sweet Ayurvedic spice mix, due to the balance and type and effect of spices used. I increased the cardamom and vanilla in this recipe, making it a little sweeter.
This spice mix is great for baking, in oatmeal or in warm milk (dairy or homemade almond milk works perfectly) as they help with the digestion of carbohydrates, sugars and dairy.
Coriander and Fennel are cooling and counteract the heating nature of cinnamon. They also both help regulate digestion.
Cinnamon is sweet and pungent. It clears congestion, promotes digestion of carbohydrates and balances blood sugar.
Green cardamom is sweet and pungent. It helps with protein metabolism and calms the nervous system.
Rose petals are sweet and cooling. They soothe the heart.
Vanilla is sweet and astringent. It has a cooling and calming effect and improves the appetite and libido.
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp. coriander seeds
- 1 tbsp. fennel seeds
- 1 tbsp. dried rose petals
- 1.5 tsp. crushed cinnamon bark (around 1 inch)
- 1 tsp. cardamom seeds
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract powder
Method
- Place all ingredients in an electric grinder or spice mill and grind to a fine powder. Store in an airtight jar, away from light
