Make aromatic ground cardamom easily at home by simply grinding down whole green cardamom pods. Ready in less than 10 minutes, my recipe makes a small batch but you can easily scale it up or down. It’s deliciously complex flavour works wonderfully in Indian sweets and savoury dishes too.
I can’t get over just how easy and quick it is to make my own ground cardamom! I just dry-roast the whole cardamom pods on the stove and whizz up in a spice grinder . A quick sieve to get a fine powder and hey presto! Flavourful green cardamom powder in minutes.
I’ve known for years that making homemade Indian spices is far superior ( tandoori masala , hot madras curry powder ) but it took me a while to do the same with cardamom. Cardamom powder is one of my most reached for spice too, especially at Diwali and special occasions!
I love that I can buy one packet of whole cardamom, keep half as it is and grind down the other half. No need to separately buy the cardamom powder and both remain fresh.
I’ve seen some recipes make cardamom powder by grinding the pods with sugar. I haven’t used sugar as I want this powder to be purely cardamom. Essentially, sugar helps to grind the pods finely. I toast the pods instead which removes moisture and makes the skin easier to grind.
What you will need
Be sure to check out the full recipe and exact ingredient list below in the recipe card.
Whole green cardamom pods – bonus points if you buy these fresh and use as soon as possible. You will get cardamom powder that is even more strong than shop-bought. Don’t use the larger black cardamom – they aren’t the same.
Pan – needed to dry-toast the spice. Use a heavy-bottomed pan so the cardamom doesn’t burn.
Spice grinder – I’ve found that using a spice grinder over a standard food processor gives much finer results. A high power nutri blender jar also does a good job.
Sieve – ultimately, you will get some bigger pieces of the skin no matter how good your grinder is. Sieving gives you a delicate fine powder that is smoother for desserts and baking – perfect for nankhatai . Don’t discard the larger pieces – use in cardamom chai for zero-waste!
How to make ground cardamom & Tips
You want to start by toasting the cardamom pods to remove moisture. I heat a heavy bottomed pan on low heat. Toast the pods, whilst constantly stirring, until the skin has slight brown spots. Your kitchen is already going to start smelling awesome! Remove from the heat as soon as they’re done. I took the cardamom out into a plate and spread out so they cool quickly.
Here’s a neat trick – you can microwave the cardamom pods instead of toasting on the stove. Place the cardamom on a microwave safe plate and heat in 10 second bursts until warm to touch.
Dry roast whole cardamom
Toast until light brown spots appear
Once cooled, place in a grinder jar and grind until you get a fine powder. It will take around 20-30 seconds, depending on the power of your appliance.
Note that seeds can stick to the grinder – my tip is to not over-crowd the grinder and over-grind. There is less chance the seeds will release oil and get stuck.
Once cooled, add to grinder jar
Grind to a powder
Sieve the powder to get it fine and remove the larger pieces of skin. Store in a container that has an airtight seal.
Sieve
Store in a jar
Storage
Cardamom powder, if stored well, can keep for up to 3 months. After this, it will loose some freshness, however shouldn’t spoil. I use a jar with an airtight lid and use a clean, dry spoon with every use – this prevents moisture seeping in and the cardamom powder from clumping.
How to use it
To get 1 teaspoon of ground cardamom, you need approximately 5-6 whole cardamom pods .
Use your homemade cardamom powder in any recipe that calls for ground cardamom. I use it in desserts such as shrikhand , bakes like barfi biscuits and mithai – see my barfi peda collection .
Some recipes, example shahi paneer , are made by grinding down whole spices. Use this cardamom powder as a substitute for the whole green cardamom pod.
As always if you make this recipe, be sure to leave me a comment, rate this recipe and tag me on Instagram @jcookingodyssey or #jcookingodyssey. I love seeing all your photos of my recipe recreations!
Don’t forget to follow me on social media using the buttons below – I can’t wait to see you all there!
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Cardamom Powder
Equipment
- Spice Grinder
- Skillet or Shallow Frying Pan
- Fine mesh sieve
Ingredients
- ½ cup green cardamom pods
Instructions
- Heat skillet or frying pan over medium-low heat, add ½ cup green cardamom pods .
- Lower the heat and roast the pods until fragrant and very light brown spots appear on the skin.
- Remove from the heat, transfer them on another bowl or plate and allow to cool completely.
- Once cooled, add to the spice grinder bowl, grind until you achieve a fine powder. Sieve to remove the large pieces. Optionally grind these larger pieces again and sieve to extract the maximum amount of cardamom powder.
Notes
Nutrition
PLEASE NOTE: Nutritional values are estimated by a computer and may vary based on ingredients and portion sizes. For personalised dietary advice, please consult a qualified healthcare professional.
Cardamom Powder
Equipment
- Spice Grinder
- Skillet or Shallow Frying Pan
- Fine mesh sieve
Ingredients
- ½ cup green cardamom pods
Instructions
- Heat skillet or frying pan over medium-low heat, add ½ cup green cardamom pods .
- Lower the heat and roast the pods until fragrant and very light brown spots appear on the skin.
- Remove from the heat, transfer them on another bowl or plate and allow to cool completely.
- Once cooled, add to the spice grinder bowl, grind until you achieve a fine powder. Sieve to remove the large pieces. Optionally grind these larger pieces again and sieve to extract the maximum amount of cardamom powder.
Notes
Nutrition
PLEASE NOTE: Nutritional values are estimated by a computer and may vary based on ingredients and portion sizes. For personalised dietary advice, please consult a qualified healthcare professional.
Undhiyu – a one-pot Gujarati medley of winter vegetables cooked in a mildly sweet coconut masala. This version is prepared surti style with plenty of green garlic and fried methi muthiya. Seconds? Always.
Btw – it’s a long post, but I highly recommend you take the time to read through it all. I’ve provided loads of tips and notes on the ingredients to help you achieve perfect surti undhiyu.
Note – This recipe was originally posted in January 2010 but I have updated the post with new photos and content. The recipe remains the same.
A 15 mile drive to Wembley in the winter was always exciting – it usually meant my Mum was going to make undhiyu! She made a point of making a special trip to buy all the special vegetables when they were at their freshest.
Ever since I can remember, she’s been preparing her classic undhiyu once every winter and over the past 5 years, I’ve been helping out. I’ve picked up loads of tips and I’m sharing them with you here!
The Recipe Details
Undhiyu is a traditional Gujarati mixed-vegetable winter stew, that’s slow cooked and has a variety of textures. The name comes from “undhu,” meaning upside-down, referring to the original rural method where fresh winter vegetables were cooked in earthen pots (matlu) buried in a fire pit. “Surti” refers to the region of surat (you might have heard of surti sev khamani ), where this particular version of undhiyu originates.
Classic Surti-style undhiyu includes a seasonal mix of baby brinjals, baby potatoes, green peas, fresh pigeon peas (tuvar lilva), ratalu (kand), sweet potato, raw banana, and of course, surti papdi.
It’s incomplete without methi muthia – small dumplings made from fresh fenugreek leaves (methi) then shaped and deep-fried to golden brown. These dumplings provide a chewy texture to contrast the soft vegetables and aromatic masala.
Surti undhiyu is traditionally served with poori and gajar halwa . At home we sometimes substitute the halwa with jalebi!
Ingredients Notes
Be sure to check out the full recipe and exact ingredient list below in the recipe card.
Undhiyu Vegetables
Green Masala Ingredients
Undhiyu Muthia Ingredients
The Vegetables
Surti papdi – aka flat beans or gujarati papdi. They are small, around 5-7 cm length, slightly curved in shape and are available in most Indian grocery stores from November to February. If you cannot find fresh, use frozen. As a last resort, use val papdi.
Baby aubergine or small brinjals – aka small ravaiyya.
Baby potatoes – I prefer these over normal potatoes as they hold their shape whilst cooking.
Purple yam – aka ratalu or kand. It’s an Indian root vegetable that is purple in colour. You will need to peel the outer skin before chopping into large chunks. I suggest wearing cooking gloves whilst preparing these as they tend to cause an itch! Fresh ratalu is available during the winter. You can use frozen too. If you end up buying a large purple yam, use the leftovers to make farali ratalu .
White sweet potato – I like to use white flesh sweet potatoes as they hold their shape while cooking. You can find them in both British and Indian stores.
Raw green banana – known as kacha kela or matoke. Find ones that are as green as possible as they are more firm and less sweet. You must cook undhiyu as soon as possible after purchasing these as they ripen and become sweet.
Fresh pigeon peas – tuver dana aka lilva. Fresh is available during the winter season, but frozen works well too.
Green peas – good old green peas – I always use frozen here.
The Green Masala
Fresh coriander leaves – finely chopped.
Green garlic – lilu lasan is the backbone of this recipe. You can buy it fresh and frozen from Indian grocery stores.
Green chilies and ginger – crushed.
Coconut – another special addition to surti undiyu. You can use fresh grated coconut or dried desiccated coconut.
Sesame seeds – use the white ones. You need these for both the masala and for the tempering.
Spice powders – red chilli powder (I specifically use kashmiri which is mild in heat), ground coriander and cumin powder and garam masala.
Lemon juice – adds a little tang and balances the spices.
Sugar – along with the lemon juice, it gives a subtle sweet and tangy flavour.
Oil – I like to use a neutral flavoured oil such as sunflower oil.
The ingredients for methi muthiya and tempering are in the recipe card below!
How to make Undhiyu Step-by-Step
This recipe is made in three steps:
- make the methi muthia
- prepare vegetables and masala
- assemble the undhiyu in a large pot and cook
First step – make methi muthia
Prep the methi by washing thoroughly and roughly chopping. Then combine all the ingredients for the muthiya and knead into a soft dough. Divide into equal sized balls then deep fry.
I highly recommend frying the muthiya instead of baking or air frying simply because the flavour and texture is far superior. Baking leads to chewy muthiya which are difficult to eat.
Bonus tip – reserve the oil you used for frying and use it for the tempering later – this helps layer all the incredible flavours.
To save time on preparation, you could do this step the day before.
Second step – make undhiyu masala and prep vegetables
Prepare the masala by mixing together all of the ingredients in a large plate.
To prepare the papdi – remove the strings from both ends.
Peel the potatoes, sweet potato and purple yam, and remove the stem of the baby aubergine. Cut the raw banana into large chunks (leaving the skin on).
Slice a criss-cross cut on the top ends of the aubergines and baby potatoes. Don’t cut all the way through. Stuff the cross with the prepared green masala – this helps the flavour to set into the vegetables. Set these aside.
Mix the sweet potato, yam, papdi, tuver dana and green peas with the prepared green masala.
Tip – Cut the root vegetables in large chunks otherwise they will mash as they cook.
Prepare undhiyu masala
Cut the vegetables
Stuff the potatoes and aubergines
Mix vegetables with masala
Third step – assemble and cook
Start with the tempering. Use plenty of oil here – it makes all the difference.
The next step – the assembly – takes a bit of thought. It’s important to layer the vegetables in a way that they all cook at a similar rate. You don’t want some vegetables mashed and some raw.
Once you have tempered the seeds, start by adding the masala mixed with papdi, tuver, peas, sweet potato and yam.
Finish by arranging the aubergine and potato on top. You do not need to mix the pot at this stage. Add approximately half a cup of water to help create steam.
Close the lid – use a glass lid if possible to help you see what’s going on in the pot. Constantly removing the lid will prevent build up of steam which is needed to cook the vegetables. Keep the heat low at all times to prevent burning.
After 20-25 minute check the veggies and gently mix so that the potatoes which were previously on top are now moved to the bottom of the pan and allow to cook until the vegetables are just tender. If you feel the undhiyu is dry, add a little water.
Add the muthiya only once the undhiyu is 90% cooked. Keep the lid on and let the muthiya cook for a further 5-10 minutes.
Tempering
Layer the vegetables
Top with potatoes and aubergines
Add methi muthiya
Storage
I recommend making undhiyu as soon as possible after purchasing the fresh vegetables – on the same day if possible or at least the day after.
It’s also best eaten the day it is prepared. However, it can stay fresh in the fridge for up to 3 days if stored in an airtight container.
I’ve tried freezing undhiyu but upon defrosting the vegetables completely loose their texture. I do not recommend.
As always if you make this recipe, be sure to leave me a comment, rate this recipe and tag me on Instagram @jcookingodyssey or #jcookingodyssey. I love seeing all your photos of my recipe recreations!
Don’t forget to follow me on social media using the buttons below – I can’t wait to see you all there!
- YouTube
Undhiyu (Surti Undhiyu)
Equipment
- Heavy-based pan or kadai with a lid
- Large spoon
- Knife
- Colander
- perforated spoon
- frying pan or small kadai
Ingredients
Methi Muthiya
- 50 gram methi leaves roughly chopped
- 50 gram gram flour besan
- 150 gram whole wheat flour roti atta
- 1 tablespoon oil also for deep frying
- 1 teaspoon carom seeds ajwain
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- ⅛ teaspoon baking soda
- salt to taste
Vegetables
- 400 gram surti papdi strings removed from both ends.
- 250 gram pink yam ratalu – peeled and cut into big chunks
- 250 gram sweet potato shakkariya – peeled and cut
- 250 gram raw banana kacha kela – washed and cut
- 3-4 baby aubergine ravaiya
- 3-4 baby potatoes
- 200 gram pigeon peas tuver dana/lilva
- 150 gram green peas
Undhiyu masala
- 1 medium bunch fresh coriander roughly chopped
- 4-5 tablespoon green chillies and ginger minced
- 4 tablespoon green garlic
- 5 tablespoon coconut dessicated
- 5-6 tablespoon sugar
- 2-3 tablespoon lemon juice
- 2 tablespoon red chilli powder kashmiri
- 2 tablespoon ground coriander and cumin
- 1 teaspoon garam masala
- 1 teaspoon sesame seeds
- pinch hing
- salt to taste
- 2-3 tbsp oil
Vaghar/tempering
- ¾ cup oil
- 2 tablespoon mustard seeds
- 3 tablespoon sesame seeds
- 1 tablespoon ajwain seeds
- ¼ teaspoon hing
Instructions
Methi dumplings
- In a plate or bowl, combine all the ingredients with only 1 tbsp oil.
- Knead a dough, using very little water.
- Divide the dough into equal portions, about marble size.
- Heat oil in a kadai and fry the muthia on a medium to low heat.
- Once they are golden brown, remove using a perforated spoon.
- Set aside.
Undhiyu masala
- In a mixer, grind coriander, chilli, ginger and green garlic to make a coarse paste.
- Combine all the listed ingredients of masala in a plate and set aside.
Prepare vegetables
- Prepare the papdi, raw banana, sweet potato and ratalu.
- Peel the potatoes and remove the stem from the aubergines.
- Cut a cross on the potatoes and baby eggplants but still keeping them whole.
- Stuff them with the prepared masala.
- Mix the remaining masala with the other vegetables.
Make undhiyu
- In a pan heat, the same oil which was used for frying the methi muthia.
- Add mustard and carom seeds, once they crackle add sesame seeds and hing.
- Turn the heat very low and carefully add vegetables that are mixed with masala.
- Then arrange stuffed potatoes and eggplants on top of the vegetables.
- Add half a cup of water and cover the pan with a lid.
- After 20-25 minutes remove the lid, let all the water to drop back into the pan and gently shuffle the potatoes to the bottom of the pan.
- Again cover with a lid, make sure nothing is sticking at the base of the pan. If necessary add some water.
- Check the vegetables again after 15-20 minutes. Add methi muthiya once the vegetables are just becoming tender. Cover and cook a further 5-10 minutes or until vegetables are soft.
- Gently mix again.
- Garnish with chopped coriander.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
PLEASE NOTE: Nutritional values are estimated by a computer and may vary based on ingredients and portion sizes. For personalised dietary advice, please consult a qualified healthcare professional.
