Gourmet Vanilla Beans from India

Mexico is widely believed to be the birthplace of vanilla. In modern times, most vanilla beans available today come from Madagascar, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia Uganda Comoros and other vanilla production growing regions. The bean pods themselves come from a vanilla vine, a climbing variety of orchid known commercially as v. Planifolia or v. Tahitensis. To obtain fruit from the orchid plant hand pollination of the vanilla flower must occur within 12 hours of flowering. Once pollinated the flower bears the green vanilla fruit. Over a period of about 9 months for full maturity of the pods. An additional 4- 6 months of curing and processing are required before the vanilla beans themselves are usable for food preparation. Vanilla is now grown widely across the world in areas that are generally 10-20 degrees of the equator, like these vanilla beans grown in the lush and fertile soils of India

To use vanilla beans in cooking and baking, cut your vanilla beans lengthwise from top to bottom and using the backend of a chef knife, scrap the inside of the pod to remove the vanilla seeds from the inside of the pod. Use as directed in recipes. Some recipes may call for one vanilla bean, some recipe may call for multiple vanilla beans. For consistency purposes, we recommend always using vanilla beans by weigh in your recipe. For instance, instead of using one vanilla bean it is suggested users weigh the amount of vanilla used in recipes by the gram. This ensure a very consistent, practical and economical use of each vanilla bean pod.  The remaining empty bean pod should not be discarded but instead used in making vanilla extract or further dried and ground into vanilla bean powder for making vanilla sugar.

Indian vanilla beans can be used in any application where Madagascar vanilla beans are used. This includes but is not limited to manufacturing vanilla extract, fragrances, brewing, cosmetics, and general food industry applications. We have include a small list below to help you visualize other specific uses. 

Facts about these vanilla beans:

• Grade A Vanilla planifolia: proudly grown in India, a country known for spices
• Length: each vanilla bean measures 15cm+, an average length of 5.9 inches avg.
• Color and appearance: black to brown in color with soft supple texture, moisture content 30-35 percent
• Aroma: characteristics of vanilla planifolia with warm buttery, creamy, chocolate, woody and caramel,  sweet ending notes. Alternative variety that is similar is our Comoros vanilla beans 
• Kosher Certified: our vanilla beans and spices are certified kosher by EarthKosher
• Packaging: all vanilla beans are securely packaged in 4 mil food-grade barrier films bags to maintain freshness and appearance 

Additional uses for Indian vanilla beans include: custards, gelato, ice cream cream, coffee, simple syrup, cakes, cookies, crème brûlées, and more