Chettinad Masala
The Quirky Foodster Team
Ingredients
- dried red chiles (a heavy proportion, reflecting Chettinad cuisine's reputation for significant heat), black peppercorns, coriander seed, fennel seed, star anise, cinnamon, cloves, a small amount of poppy seed and stone flower
Method
- Dry-roast the whole spices thoroughly, cool, grind to a coarse-to-fine powder.
- Essential and thorough — Chettinad cooking generally favors a deep, well-developed roast across its spice preparations.
Origin: Chettinad region, Tamil Nadu, South India — associated with one of India’s most robustly spiced regional culinary traditions.
Use: Added during the cooking of Chettinad’s characteristically fiery, complexly spiced curries.
Classic Dishes: Chettinad chicken curry; Chettinad pepper crab — among the most internationally recognized dishes of this specific regional tradition.
Storage: Keeps 2-3 months sealed and dark.
Variations: Widely regarded as one of the most complex and heat-forward regional spice traditions within Indian cooking as a whole, reflecting Chettinad’s historical trading-community wealth and access to a wide range of imported spices.
Substitutions: No close substitute given the specific combination and heat level; a hot curry powder with added star anise and stone flower approximates the direction.
- dried red chiles (a heavy proportion, reflecting Chettinad cuisine's reputation for significant heat), black peppercorns, coriander seed, fennel seed, star anise, cinnamon, cloves, a small amount of poppy seed and stone flower
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