Thai Cardamom (Krawan): The Round, Cineole-Rich Cardamom of Thailand and Cambodia

Thai cardamom imitates green cardamom’s smell well enough to stand in for it,¹ yet its oil leans even harder on 1,8-cineole, the compound with a camphor-like smell. It’s the small, nearly round pod of a Southeast Asian relative of green cardamom, called krawan in Thai and Siam cardamom in English, and it’s grown commercially around Chanthaburi in eastern Thailand. Massaman curry recipes can’t agree on whether it or green cardamom belongs in the paste, and either one works.

At a glance

The name

Thai cardamom has gone by several botanical names. Kew now accepts Wurfbainia vera and lists both Amomum krervanh (a superfluous name) and Amomum verum as synonyms.² You’ll also see the common misspelling Amomum krevanh. It’s a different plant from green cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum), which is native to southwest India.

Flavor and the compounds behind it

Katzer says the small, almost spherical pods “imitate cardamom’s aroma pretty well.”¹ Thai cardamom is a little sharper and more eucalyptus-like than green cardamom, with less of its sweet, floral roundness. Published oil compositions:

1,8-cineole smells like camphor.⁶ Green cardamom’s other major compound, α-terpinyl acetate, isn’t among the components PROSEA lists for Thai cardamom.⁴⁵

How much oil the spice holds depends on what was measured:

One more data point, from a different part of the plant: oil distilled from Amomum verum shoots in a 2020 Thai study was 84.38% 1,8-cineole.⁸

You’ll often read that Thai cardamom is less camphor-like than green cardamom. No source we found compares the two by smell, so that’s untested. The composition figures above are the only published evidence.

Where it grows

Kew gives the native range as Indo-China and Sumatra,² and Katzer describes it as native to peninsular Southeast Asia and used in Thai and Cambodian cooking.¹ PROSEA says that in Cambodia the fruits are mostly gathered from natural forest, while in Thailand the plants are mostly cultivated.⁴

A Thai Department of Agriculture survey (2010–2011) found Thai cardamom gardens mostly in Chanthaburi and Trat provinces and in Klaeng district of Rayong, with commercial production concentrated in Pong Nam Ron and Soi Dao districts of Chanthaburi, at 600 to 900 meters above sea level. It cites a 2009 figure of more than 2,000 rai (about 320 hectares) planted in Chanthaburi.⁷ Chanthaburi is in eastern Thailand, not the south. We couldn’t trace claims that Chanthaburi grows the finest Thai cardamom.

Harvest and drying. PROSEA says the fruits are usually hand-picked as they start to darken and have to be dried right after harvest.⁴ The Thai survey describes the pods being dried over fire for about two days.⁷

History

No source we found documents Thai cardamom’s early trade. We couldn’t trace claims that Chinese merchants bought it and passed it on to Middle Eastern traders, that it was once prized above green and black cardamom, or that the Romans knew it. Katzer discusses the Roman amomum and cardamomum and suggests amomum may have been similar to black cardamom, but doesn’t connect either to Thai cardamom.¹

How it is used

Massaman curry. Thai cardamom is one of the aromatics in massaman curry paste, alongside cumin, cloves, nutmeg, mace and cassia, according to Rebecca Seal in National Geographic; her recipe calls for white cardamom pods.⁹ Thai cookbook author Pailin Chongchitnant’s massaman paste calls instead for half a teaspoon of ground “green or white cardamom,” and she clarifies in a comment that she means green.¹⁰ Katzer lists krawan khaao (“white krawan”) among the Thai names of Thai cardamom.¹ So recipes disagree on which cardamom goes in, and either one works.

Other uses. Katzer says only that the pods go into Thai and Cambodian cooking, without naming dishes.¹ We couldn’t trace claims that it’s essential to other Thai curries, beef noodle soup, Vietnamese pho or chai. The Thai survey lists the seeds as a spice and records local use of the young shoots as food.⁷

Technique. As with green cardamom, bruise whole pods and fry or simmer them in the curry, and grind the seeds for pastes. See cooking with cardamom and cardamom pods vs. seeds.

Buying and storage

Thai cardamom is mostly sold as whole pods. We found no grading standard, adulteration report or storage study for it. For general cardamom storage advice, see cardamom.

Health claims

PROSEA lists Thai cardamom among the well-known medicinal herbs of China, Indo-China and Thailand, used mainly for stomach and digestive complaints.⁴ The Thai survey records traditional use against bloating and indigestion.⁷ A diterpene peroxide isolated from the fruits was active against the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum in lab tests.⁴ We found no human trials, and no evidence that it prevents heart disease or arthritis or treats food poisoning, so we don’t claim any of that.

Substitutes and comparisons

Katzer says that where recipes from these regions call for cardamom, they mean the local kinds, and swapping in true cardamom is perfectly possible.¹

Ratio (Method): Start by swapping green cardamom pod for pod and adjust to taste. Related pages:

• Cardamom · Cardamom substitutes · Too much cardamom?
• Black cardamom · Black cardamom vs. green · Black cardamom substitutes
• Cardamom vs. cloves · Galangal · Ginger