Round cardamom vs Green cardamom
The short answer
Two genera sold as cardamom, and a third product sharing one English name. Green cardamom is Elettaria: strong, floral and sweet. Round cardamom is Wurfbainia (long called Amomum compactum): small pale pods, milder and more eucalyptus-like, the cardamom of Chinese braising and Thai curry pastes. "White cardamom" in a shop may mean either round cardamom or green cardamom bleached pale — check the pod: round cardamom is round, bleached green cardamom keeps its three-sided shape.
Side by side
| Round cardamom | Green cardamom | |
|---|---|---|
| Botanical identity | Wurfbainia compacta (Sol. ex Maton) Škorničk. & A.D.Poulsen | Elettaria cardamomum (L.) Maton |
| Part used | pod, seed | pod, seed |
| Origin | The lower hills of western Java. | The Western Ghats of southern India. |
| Flavour notes | eucalyptus, camphor, ginger, peppery, mild | eucalyptus, camphorous, floral, citrus, cooling |
| Heat | Scoville does not apply | Scoville does not apply |
| Flavour | Peppery and ginger-like, warm and mild. | Cooling and pungent in an aromatic rather than a pungent sense, with a lingering resinous sweetness. Powerful enough that two or three pods season a whole dish, and easily overdone. |
| Aroma | Cooler and more eucalyptus-like than green cardamom, with less of its floral sweetness. | Intensely aromatic and immediately recognisable: eucalyptus-fresh and camphorous, with citrus and floral notes and a faint sweetness. |
Can you swap them?
Substitution is directional: the answer is often different in each direction, and both are recorded.
Green cardamom
Good matchUse: ~0.5× by volume — About half the number of pods: green cardamom is stronger and more floral.
Green cardamom is the spice round cardamom stands in for in its own region, and the reverse works in a braise: the cardamom note is kept, with more flower and less eucalyptus.
| Flavour | Aroma | Colour | Heat |
|---|---|---|---|
| partial | partial | different | n/a |
Works for
- Chinese braising bundles and master stocks
- Thai massaman paste
Does not work for
- Where the cool, camphor-and-eucalyptus note is the point
- Recipes that call for "white cardamom" meaning bleached green cardamom — that is the same species already
Which should you buy?
Round cardamom
Whole pods. The spice is used whole in braising and cracked for pastes, and the pod keeps its aroma far better than any powder.
Green cardamom
Whole pods, without hesitation. Cardamom has the shortest useful life after grinding of any spice in this catalogue, and the pod is an unusually effective natural container. Buying decorticated seeds is a reasonable compromise for heavy bakers; buying ground cardamom is close to buying nothing.
Full detail on round cardamom and green cardamom, including evidence grades and sources for every claim above.