The small cardamom, in Sanskrit Ela, is mentioned by Susruta. In the Nighantas it bears various synonyms, such as Truti, Kapota-varni “grey,” Korangi, and Dravidi “coming from the Dravidian country.” The large or Nepal cardamom (Amomum subulatum) is called Sthulaila “large Ela,” and is described separately. Both kinds are considered to be digestive, pungent, light and hot, and are recommended in phlegmatic affections, such as cough, asthma, piles, and diseases of the bladder and kidneys. These two cardamoms are described by Ibn Sina under the name of قاقله (kakulah); he also describes separately under the name of هيل بوا (hilbawa) another kind of cardamom as more easily digested than the kakulah. This latter cardamom is the true Cardamomum majus or Nutmeg cardamom of Africa to which Pereira has given the name of Amomum korarima. We think that there can be no doubt that the Greeks were acquainted with the cardamoms of India which they appear to have first obtained from the Persians through Syria and Armenia. Dioscorides says:—“Choose that which is tough, well filled, closed; if not in this state, it is too old and has lost its aroma. The taste is pungent and somewhat bitter.” With respect to the name Kátídáús, the Greeks appear to have applied it to this spice in much the same way as the Persians applied the name kakulah, which originally meant the fruit of some other plant which was used for flavouring bread. In the Burhán it is stated that the name kakulah is also given by some to a fruit like sapandan (a kind of cress), which is the same as Ilachi.
Besides the two Indian cardamoms, there is a large kind of cardamom which comes from Ceylon, now found in commerce. Dr. Trimen, in his Systematic Catalogue of the Flowering Plants and Ferns of Ceylon, speaks of the plant which produces it as Elettaria cardamomum, Maton, var. major—the Ensál of the Singhalese.
As a masticatory and for flavouring food, the Malabar or small cardamom is preferred by the natives, but the other kinds, which are cheaper and of less delicate flavour, are largely used by the sweetmeat makers.