Cardamom has a strong, pungent flavor and aroma, with hints of lemon, mint and smoke. Black cardamom has a distinctly more smokey, though not bitter, aroma, with a coolness some consider similar to mint. Green cardamom is one of the most expensive spices by weight but little is needed to impart flavor. It is best stored in pod form because once the seeds are exposed or ground, they quickly lose their flavor. Grinding the pods and seeds together lowers both the quality and the price. For recipes requiring whole cardamom pods, a generally accepted equivalent is 10 pods equals 1 1⁄2 teaspoons of ground cardamom.
