Chilli flakes
Ground Spices
Coarsely crushed dried chilli with the seeds left in — scattered over garlic bread, pizza and pasta, usually at the table.
What to know
The heat stays in visible pieces instead of dissolving, so it arrives in bursts and can go on after cooking without colouring anything. That is the whole difference from chilli powder.
- Choosing it
- Brick red flakes with pale seeds. Dull brown ones are old and taste more of dust than chilli.
- Storing it
- Airtight and out of the light; crushed chilli fades faster than whole dried ones.
- By eye
- 1 tsp ≈ a light scatter across four slices of toast
- If you cannot get it
- A dried red chilli snapped up coarsely by hand does the same job. Chilli powder does not — it dissolves and stains whatever it touches.Try: dried red chilli, red chilli powder
Measures
- 1 tsp ≈ 2 g
- 1 tbsp ≈ 6 g
Cups here are the Indian 200 ml cup, not the 240 ml US cup — a common reason a recipe does not work. Weigh where you can; the grams are the figure we cook to.