How do you grind whole cardamom pods into crushed cardamom, not ground cardamom?
I just wanted to ask if anyone can tell me how to grind whole cardamom pods that have the green shell removed into crushed cardamom. This is cardamom that isn't totally ground, but has the seeds intact when you bake the bread. My mother inlaw in Finland gave me an amazing family recipe for Finnish pulla (cardamom bread), but you can't find that type of cardamom over here in the U.S. I have to bring the cardamom back from Finland, and I would love to give everybody here the rceipe because it is REALLY GOOD, especially when you bite into the crushed seeds of the cardamom pod. I have tried coffee grinders, hammers, sides of knives, etc., and still can't get it crushed the way I want. You can get cardamom online that lists: Cardamom seeds, but it is much larger than what you buy in Finland, and I don't how it gets crushed finer...thanks anybody!! Everybody loves this recipe when I make it for them...
Julie J
They are used to crush ingredients, so that may be an option.
I tried the mortar and pestle too...much too hard! Thanks anyway!
You have to pinch/peel the seed covering off and discard. I know it is a pain, but it is worth it. --Pamela
You might be able to crush the seed covering with a mortar and pestle, but it is easier to do with a canning jar bottom or a veal pounder on a cutting board (in my opinion).
--Pamela
I tried that too, and it was a pain and even with the green shell off, I still can't figure out how to crushed the pods. They are very hard!
Thanks!
Oh, I understand what you are doing now. I put them in a spice grinder (coffee grinder that reserved for spices). If you don't have one of those, you can use a combination of whacking and crushing them on a cutting board with the edge of a heavy, e.g., cast iron, pan.
--Pamela
Thanks for your help! I will try the cast iron pan...I have tried a coffee grinder and it didn't work either! I thought the coffee grinder would be the one thing that worked, but it didn't!
Thanks again! I have never encountered such a hard spice to crush!
I just tried crushing one with my veal pounder and it crushed fine. These veal pounders come in handy for all sorts of things, e.g., pounding the pin back into my KA mixer.
--Pamela
Crush the green seed covering and remove it (it's like removing the covering of garlic), then crush the little seeds. This absolutely works because I've done it a number of times.
--Pamela
I see I am too late to say that I use an electric coffee grinder to turn cardamom seeds into cardamom powder (veal pounder great idea!)
To clear out any coffee flavour, I clean as best I can with a soft dry cloth then whir a few grains of uncooked rice along with a few cardamom seeds. That goes into the compost and the coffee grinder is ready for crushing cardamom seeds. (I'm really surprised to hear that your coffee grinder didn't work, Julie! It takes no time at all for our coffee grinder to crush cardamom.)
-Elizabeth
P.S. I shell the cardamom pods first. I don't think there is ever any shell in commercially powdered cardamom (unless it's accidentally there).
Thanks a bunch you guys! This is a great forum to get the help you need from fellow bakers! If I figure out another way, I will post the recipe for this wonderful Finnish pulla...you can make it with ground cardamom, but you don't get the wonderful bite of good taste from the coarser seeds! I didn't try my own coffee grinder...a friend tried it and said that she didn't get it to do anything in hers, so I figured that none would work! Thanks a lot you guys!
Julie
I'm really looking forward to the recipe for Finnish pulla, Julie. And you're right that grinding your own cardamom seeds is better than using powdered. I make an Icelandic layer cake (Vínarterta) that calls for ground cardamom. We always like it better when I grind the seeds rather than using commercially powdered cardamom.
-Elizabeth
Just wanted to say thanks to Pamela and Elizabeth! Thanks for all your help!
I am going to try a coffee grinder and when I figure out how to get the cardamom the way it is in Finland, I will post the recipe for everybody! Everybody loves it here whenever I make it for them!!!
I also printed out your Iclandic cake recipe! Thanks for that too...my sister inlaw in Finland makes some spice cakes with ground cardamom that are really good too!
Later,
Julie
I was surprised, too, that Julie had trouble grinding with an electric grinder. Mine works fine on cardamom seeds. I clean my grinder with a few pieces of leftover bread. I didn't know that rice would work too. Great tip. Thanks, --Pamela
Which is more like a mortar and club. It's the shape and size (inside) of a shallow soup bowl but grey and stone. Works great. No nut or hull has been able to resist.
I think caraway is harder. The trick with an electric (coffee) grinder is to put in enough seeds for it to work. If the amount is small sometimes it helps to add something else, like sugar, to increase the volume in the grinder.
Mini
Good idea to add sugar to increase the volume for grinding, Mini. (I just saw one of those Indonesian garlic presses at my parents house! We didn't know it was for garlic and used it to crush brown mustard and nigella seeds. If I was still there, I'd try it out on cardamom....)
-Elizabeth
P.S. You grind caraway before adding it to bread? I've always just added it whole.
depends on my mood if I use ground or whole caraway. In rye bread I tend to use ground and in white bread and rolls, whole on top as well as inside, more decorative. Use less powdered than whole.
The "garlic press" is just my name for it. Indonesians use it for such also adding chillies, kamiri nuts, etc. I grind all kinds of stuff in it and it sits inside an open weave casserole basket to protect the counter top (or whatever). The nice thing about the flat shape of the stone mortar is that after grinding spices for say ... steaks, the liquids for the marinade can be added to the bowl and the meat can be dipped right into it. I scrub it with a brush and ever so often run it through the dishwasher. I crack all kinds of nuts with it too.
The stone comes from quarries in West Java, in the hills across the water from Krakatau. (Now doesn't that sound exotic?)
Mini
That's 'stone' in English...Heheheh!
I lived in a beach cafe/restaurant in Malaysia for 6 months or so (30+ years ago)
There was no electricity, no running water, no gas supply...all foods were hand-processed and cooked with wood or charcoal. The only sizeable 'kitchen appliance' for making curries, processing seeds, garlic, chili, etc, was 'the stone'...TWO stones, in reality...one roundish and hand-sized...the other cupped, either by design or by daily use...
Ahh! The good old days! The food was fantastic!
Cheers, and thanks for the nostalgia,
copyu
My Finnish Mother Inlaw's recipe! It is really good!
Finnish Cardamom Buns (Pulla)
4 tsp. active dry yeast
2 ½ cups milk, heated to lukewarm
1 tbsp. crushed cardamom (not ground cardamom **)
1 stick butter, very soft
1 tsp. salt
1 cup sugar
Approx. 7 ½ cups flour
1 egg for the pulla, beaten (plus 1 later for brushing the pulla)
Heat milk in pan on stove to lukewarm. Pour milk into large bread bowl and stir in the yeast. Let sit for about 7 minutes to proof. Add all ingredients except the flour and butter and stir well. Stir in about 3 or 4 cups of flour, then add the softened butter and mix it pretty well into mixture. Add the rest of the flour (you will probably have to use your hands to mix and knead it now). Knead for about 10 minutes. Cover bowl with lid or dish towel and let rise in a sunny & warm place for about 1 to 1 ½ hours.
Lightly flour table and remove pulla with a dough scraper to the table. I cut it into 2 pieces to make it easier to handle, and cover half of the dough with dish towel to keep moist. Roll one piece into a log shape and cut pieces off with the dough scraper and roll into a ball, maybe a little bigger than a golf ball. I put about 12 pieces on a jelly roll pan that has either been greased or has parchment paper on it. Parchment works better. Cover with dish towel and let sit at least 15 minutes to rise again before baking it. The other pans will sit longer than that, but it is okay! Use other dough the same way, and cover for 15 min.
About 5 minutes before baking, get some cold butter out of the fridge and 1 egg. Beat egg in a small bowl and you will need a pastry brush and white sugar too. Take your thumb and make an indentation in each pulla bun on the first pan. Put a small piece of cold butter into center of each bun. Brush each bun with beaten egg and then take a small amount of white sugar and sprinkle on top of buns. Try not to get too much sugar on bottom of pan because the pulla will get black, burnt sugar rings!
Pulla burns easily, so watch it carefully! I bake them at 400 degrees and bake for about 12 to 14 minutes. I preheat my oven for about 20 minutes too. Pulla likes a really hot oven. I also put my oven rack on the highest level.
For Stale Pulla: Take pulla and fry in butter in the frying pan until browned. Let cool enough to spread with strawberry jam and top with whipped cream! Yum!
** I bring home crushed cardamom from Finland, and you can only buy whole pods of cardamom or ground cardamom in the U.S. You can make it with ground cardamom, but I don't think you will get the same bite of flavor with the ground that you do with the crushed cardamom. You bite into the seeds and get a nice burst of flavor with the crushed cardamom. You can order cardamom seeds online without the green pod, and crush them in a coffee grinder until they have a sand-like consistency. The crushed cardamom feels like sand. I've tried taking the green pod off the whole pod of cardamom and it was such a task, that I would order the seeds online! Enjoy! Everyone loves this recipe!
Julie J
My Finnish Mother Inlaw's recipe! It is really good!
Finnish Cardamom Buns (Pulla)
4 tsp. active dry yeast
2 ½ cups milk, heated to lukewarm
1 tbsp. crushed cardamom (not ground cardamom **)
1 stick butter, very soft
1 tsp. salt
1 cup sugar
Approx. 7 ½ cups flour
1 egg for the pulla, beaten (plus 1 later for brushing the pulla)
Heat milk in pan on stove to lukewarm. Pour milk into large bread bowl and stir in the yeast. Let sit for about 7 minutes to proof. Add all ingredients except the flour and butter and stir well. Stir in about 3 or 4 cups of flour, then add the softened butter and mix it pretty well into mixture. Add the rest of the flour (you will probably have to use your hands to mix and knead it now). Knead for about 10 minutes. Cover bowl with lid or dish towel and let rise in a sunny & warm place for about 1 to 1 ½ hours.
Lightly flour table and remove pulla with a dough scraper to the table. I cut it into 2 pieces to make it easier to handle, and cover half of the dough with dish towel to keep moist. Roll one piece into a log shape and cut pieces off with the dough scraper and roll into a ball, maybe a little bigger than a golf ball. I put about 12 pieces on a jelly roll pan that has either been greased or has parchment paper on it. Parchment works better. Cover with dish towel and let sit at least 15 minutes to rise again before baking it. The other pans will sit longer than that, but it is okay! Use other dough the same way, and cover for 15 min.
About 5 minutes before baking, get some cold butter out of the fridge and 1 egg. Beat egg in a small bowl and you will need a pastry brush and white sugar too. Take your thumb and make an indentation in each pulla bun on the first pan. Put a small piece of cold butter into center of each bun. Brush each bun with beaten egg and then take a small amount of white sugar and sprinkle on top of buns. Try not to get too much sugar on bottom of pan because the pulla will get black, burnt sugar rings!
Pulla burns easily, so watch it carefully! I bake them at 400 degrees and bake for about 12 to 14 minutes. I preheat my oven for about 20 minutes too. Pulla likes a really hot oven. I also put my oven rack on the highest level.
For Stale Pulla: Take pulla and fry in butter in the frying pan until browned. Let cool enough to spread with strawberry jam and top with whipped cream! Yum!
** I bring home crushed cardamom from Finland, and you can only buy whole pods of cardamom or ground cardamom in the U.S. You can make it with ground cardamom, but I don't think you will get the same bite of flavor with the ground that you do with the crushed cardamom. You bite into the seeds and get a nice burst of flavor with the crushed cardamom. You can order cardamom seeds online without the green pod, and crush them in a coffee grinder until they have a sand-like consistency. The crushed cardamom feels like sand. I've tried taking the green pod off the whole pod of cardamom and it was such a task, that I would order the seeds online! Enjoy!
Julie J
Thanks everybody! I tried the coffee grinder with more pods of whole cardamom, and it worked pretty good...I think maybe you guys were right about putting more seeds in the grinder. Maybe my friend didn't do that! She just told me that she tried it and it didn't work! Okay, I have posted the recipe! Hope you guys enjoy it! It is worth ordering the cardamom seeds online!
Julie
I am new here and don't really know what I am doing yet! I am going to post the recipe in a new topic so everyone can see it!
Julie
Hi Julieta,
We lost our computer for a few days, so I wanted to reply back to your question about Finnish recipes. What kind of recipes are you interested in? Just breads? My mother inlaw taught me how to make Finnish rye and a Finnish whole wheat bread too. The rye bread is flat and hard and you need a starter each time. I also have a good recipe for Finnish gingerbread cookies, that also have crushed cardamom, that are really good! Let me know if you want any of these!
Also, thanks Bruce for the Finnish cinnamon pulla! I printed a copy of that too!
Julie
I have been using whole cardamon seed from Frontier spices for a 50% rye bread with anise and cardamon---was just starting a patch when I saw this post---it works well. You are correct---nothing beats the taste when you bite into one of the caroman seeds---
gene
Cardamom as ground for about 30 seconds in Krups coffee grinder(about $15 at Bed Bath Beyond w/coupon). Of course, with such a tiny amount(about 1/2 tsp), you must shake the grinder while in operation.
On the left is shown some black peppercorns as ground in my cheap pepper mill. On the right are the seeds of 3 pods of cardamom. The bottom picture left is a catalog image of the actual grinder. Right is an attempt to show operation.
Of course the Krups grinder is much more versatile for many tasks as compared to the pepper mill. I use the Krups only for grinding spices, for the last 5 years or so. The only minor issue with the Krups is spices like cloves stain(make cloudy) the clear plastic top. Really a non issue for me.