Baraka Green Cardamom from Diaspora Co.

Baraka Green Cardamom radiates such potent notes of citrus, pine, mint and licorice, that Diaspora Co. recommends only using about half as much as you normally would. These cardamom pods are grown by the Chacko family in Udumbanchola, Kerala. Mr. Chacko is one of the only farmers who has been able to successfully domesticate a wild variety of cardamom that both thrives without pesticides and offers the pronounced aromas that makes this spice so beloved.  

How to use

In addition to being essential to chai and Diaspora Co.’s own Garam Masala house blend, cardamom lends its singular aroma to all kinds of cooking and baking. Bloom crushed cardamom pods in hot oil to release their fragrance and use it to add depth to curries, stews, pulao and other rice dishes. Bakers will appreciate Baraka Green Cardamom’s pungency in recipes for cardamom cookies, cakes and twisted knots of pearl sugar-dusted kardemummabullar (Swedish cardamom buns). 

About the producer

Sana Javeri Kadri, founder of Diaspora Co., is changing the way the supply chain works in the spice industry. Her goal is to put money, equity and power back into the hands of the farmers by cutting out the middle man and decolonizing the commodity spice trading system.

Sana grew up in Mumbai, India and moved to America to attend college. After graduating, she began working as the marketing manager for a grocery store in the San Francisco Bay Area. During her time there she realized that the sourcing of particular products, like chocolate and coffee, was becoming more and more transparent to retailers and customers, but that was still not the case with spices. This fueled Sana's desire to bring the spices she grew up with to the American market and create a better, more equitable spice trade model focused on flavor, sustainability, heirloom seeds and empowering farmers.

Sana started her journey with a five-month trip to India, where she learned about the spice industry and begin working with the Indian Institute of Spice Research (a non-profit agricultural research facility that works with farmers to promote sustainable and profitable spice production). Through this institute, she began learning about turmeric cultivation and was also introduced to farmers growing heirloom varietals of the spice. She returned to Oakland and after much hard work launched her first spice stateside: Pragati Single-Origin Heirloom Turmeric.