Hardeep Singh Kohli: Cardamon martini recipe

Cardamons - Credit: Archant

A gin and prosecco cocktail recipe with a spiced, sugary sensuousness

I love cocktails. Perhaps it’s because I never really liked the taste of alcohol when I was learning to drink; who does at that tender age? Cocktails from the sweeter side of the spectrum lull one into that false sense of alcoholic security.

I mean, how can something so deliciously sweet be anything other than utterly innocent? Flash forward three hours as you struggle to wipe the garlic sauce from your flat key and you still can’t work out where you lost your second shoe….

As I have matured I have been prepared to sip a less saccharine tipple, embracing the Negroni and welcoming the complexity of a Whisky Sour. Yet still, when it comes to the making of cocktails I invariably fall back into the sugary sensuousness that started me on this delightful and dangerous journey of drinking.

Cardamom Martini is a drink I believe that I have invented. I may well be wrong but I’ve certainly never come across this recipe anywhere else. Like any creative endeavour in the realm of food and drink, this cocktail is defined by balance. The perfumed spice nuttiness works against the otherwise sickly sweetness with those ever-dependable bubbles bringing a degree of civility to the whole thing.

Ingredients

20 green cardamom pods

250g soft demerara sugar

250 ml water

A decent bottle of gin

Prosecco or Cava

Method

In a mortar and pestle crush the cardamom until the black seeds within the green husks deliver themselves free.

Carefully sort the seeds from the husks, the wheat from the chaff.

Add the seeds to the sugar and water and bring to the boil, then allow to cool, preferably overnight in the fridge. You now possess the highly sought after cardamom syrup.

In a martini glass add a tablespoon of the syrup to twice the amount of gin. (This is a very personal matter, so I suggest you make your own choices).

Mix well and top off with bubbles. Toast the joy that is a Cardamom Martini.