Cardamom are the seeds and seed pods and sometimes called green cardamom in order to distinguish it from black variety. Native to southern India, it is now grown commercially in Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Vietnam, and Guatemala. In Europe it’s normally baked good but in India, North Africa, and Middle East it is also in savoury foods. Indians also use it to flavour ice cream (kulfi) and tea, and Arabs use it to flavour coffee. Buy the whole green pods when possible; the white pods are merely bleached versions of the green pods. It’s also available in ground form which usually includes the hulls, so buy the pods and grind the seeds yourself.