If you use cardamom powder or cinnamon powder in your kitchen, you would rather make these two at home. The main advantage of making these powders at home is that you can use them fresh. Fresh means the natural aroma of cardamom and cinnamon will be intact. Trust me; it is way better than any packed powder you can buy at the store.
Another thing that you will ensure by grinding spices at home is purity. Particularly when it comes to cinnamon powder, I would rather see what goes into it.
So, let’s see first how to make cardamom powder. Here we are talking about green cardamom powder, which is used in desserts and Indian milky tea called “chai.” To begin, take a small quantity of fresh, high-quality green cardamom and roast the whole pods at low heat for a few minutes. When the pods become darker in color, turn off the heat and let the pods cool.
When fully cooled, put the pods in a spice grinder and grind them finely. Later, sieve the powder through a fine mesh and discard whatever cannot get through the mesh. The video will show you how. If you wish, you may add some white sugar at the time of grinding. This gives extra sweetness to the powder.
Now, if you are going to grind cinnamon sticks, there is no need to heat them or roast them. Just break the sticks into small pieces and grind as fine as possible. However, do not grind for too long, say over a minute, because that will burn the cinnamon. I would preferably use a high-powered grinder and finish the grinding within 30 seconds.
Store spice powders in clean and air-tight jars.
Video credit: Zesty. MV YouTube channel.