Spices for a Kochi Christmas: plum cake, stew and duck roast
The spices Kochi kitchens buy in December, how much you need for a cake and a roast, and when to start soaking fruit.
Kashmiri, Byadgi or Guntur: choosing chilli for colour or heat
Why some chillies colour a curry red without burning, and others bring the heat. A guide to five Indian chillies.
Indian cooks often use two chillies in one dish: one for colour and one for heat. Knowing which is which saves a lot of red curries that are too fiery, or bright ones that taste of nothing.
Kashmiri chilli is the colour chilli. It is long, wrinkled and deep red, with mild heat, roughly a third of a Guntur chilli’s. It gives fish curries, tandoori marinades and Kerala roasts their colour without making them hard to eat. Our Kashmiri chilli powder is ₹220 for 250 g. Byadgi chilli, from Karnataka, is similar: deep colour, low heat and a slightly sweet smell, and many restaurants mix it with Kashmiri.
Guntur chilli, from Andhra Pradesh, is the everyday hot chilli, with smooth skin and a sharp, lasting heat. A teaspoon of Guntur powder can carry a whole pot of sambar. Gundu, the small round chilli of Tamil Nadu, is used whole in tempering and for vathal kuzhambu. Kanthari, the tiny bird’s eye chilli of Kerala homesteads, is very hot and usually used fresh, crushed with shallots and salt.
A simple rule for home cooking: build colour with Kashmiri or Byadgi, then add Guntur a little at a time until the heat is right. Taste as you go, because chilli heat varies from harvest to harvest. Store chilli powder in a dark jar; light fades its red colour long before the flavour goes.
