Red Chilli Powder

Ground red chilli does two separate jobs in a dish and it is worth knowing which one you are asking of it. It brings heat, and it brings the red that a gravy is judged on before anybody tastes it. Different chillies weight those differently — some are almost all colour, some are almost all heat — and the everyday kitchen powder sits in the middle where both are usable.

Add it to hot oil for a few seconds only. Chilli scorches faster than any other ground spice in the tin, and burnt chilli is bitter in a way you cannot cook back out. Safer route: take the pan off the heat, stir it in, and put it back.

Packed in 100 g and 250 g. Start with less than a recipe says and correct upward — heat is the one thing that cannot be taken out again.