Although cardamom is sweet and pungent in taste and hot in potency, it does not increase pitta; instead it increase tejas and ojas, the essential, pure forms of the fire element. Cardamom reduces all three doshas and, being sweet after digestion, it rejuvenates the system. Popular as a spice and chewed after meals as a digestive, it is especially useful despite its heat for reducing improper or waste heat in body and mind. It can remedy indigestion, abdominal distention, piles, urinary complaints, weakness of the heart and body, cough, asthma and consumption. Because it relieves acidity, Middle Easterners add it to their coffee. It appears in many compounds, including Sitopaladi Churna, which is used for respiratory congestion. A related species, 'Great Cardamom', whose pods are black and are larger than those of the usual cardamom, is used mainly in cookery.
References:
Ayurveda Life Health and Longevity by Robert E. Svoboda - Penguin Books.
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