Best Combination with: tempering (tadka) for curries and pickles

Dry red chillies are one of the first things you learn to handle in a Kerala kitchen, mostly because of that sharp cough you get if you fry them too long in a closed room. Sun dried until the skin turns deep red and slightly wrinkled, they carry both heat and a rich color that fresh chillies simply cannot match.

Most Kerala cooking starts with a tempering step, and dry red chillies are almost always part of it, snapped in half and dropped into hot oil along with mustard seeds and curry leaves. They go into pickles for punch, into curries for body, and can be ground fresh whenever a recipe calls for chilli powder made just before cooking.

We source and dry ours with care, keeping the packet free of artificial colors or additives, so the heat and color you get come entirely from the chilli itself.