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Red Chili Powder: One of the most basic spices in cooking,
chili powder adds the sharp taste to all savory dishes. When chili powder is fried with coriander and turmeric powders before the vegetables/meat are added, the dish gets the familiar home style food flavor.
Although the preoccupation with the heat in chilies is ubiquitous, their flavor contributions shouldn't be overlooked. The flavor of a fresh chili is quite different to dried, similar to the taste difference between a fresh tomato and a sun-dried one. Upon drying, usually in the sun, caramelization of sugars and other chemical changes create more complex flavours. While fresh chiles have a distinct heat and sweetness, dried chilies carry a full-bodied, fruity, raisin sweetness with varying degrees of tobacco and smokiness
Red Chili Cooking Tips:
Its good to keep in mind that the intensity of the heat and the timing of when it hits you is often affected by the amount of fat or oil in the dish. Oils and fats coat the capsaicin molecules, either reducing them or delaying their bite. A stir-fry with chiles and thai spices will be fairly sharp and hot, but add high-fat coconut milk and the heat will be tamed and will hit your palate a little later. Sweetness will also tone down the heat. It's always best to start with a light hand and add a little at a time to get your flavors right. Once too much has been added there is little that can be done, though you can try adding sugar, cream or coconut milk. The starchiness of chopped potato can sometimes help (remove after about 30 minutes). Leaving the dish in the fridge overnight can help too, allowing the flavors to mature and round out over time.
Red Chili Culinary Uses:
There appears to be a positive correlation between environment temperature and chili consumption: chilies are more popular in hot climates.
Most European countries do not use chilis for their traditional dishes; only Mediterranean countries and Hungary have much of a chili tradition, though food is rarely really fiery even in these countries. Consequently, there are only few particular chili cultivators in Europe. A good example is the fiery piri-piri, a Portuguese variety sold almost exclusively in pickled form. Other hot chilis are mostly used dried, e.g., the piment d'espelette from Pays Basque in France, or the South Italian pepperoncino.
At it's heart, traditional Mexican cuisine is the various permutations and preparations of chilis. Tamales, tacos, Rellenos, moles, tortillas, frijoles, enchiladas, etc. are all tempered by chilies. While each region of Mexico has its specialties the chili is omnipresent.
In Thailand, "curry pastes" (prik kaeng or prik gaeng) are ground mixtures of chilies with other fresh spices. Chile-based table condiments are almost ubiquitous in Thailand: nam pla prik (fish sauce with finely chopped green chilies), prik dong (chopped red chilies in vinegar) and prik phom (red chili powder) allow each diner to adjust spiciness (Europeans, however, rarely use the option). The mentioned three chili condiments, plus white sugar and ground toasted peanuts, make up the standard set of "fiver flavors" which is offered even in very cheap restaurants and at family tables.
In Indonesia a red hot chili sauce, sambal, is provided at the table to adjust hotness level to one's personal taste. Sambal may consist simply of mashed, salted chilies (sambal ulek), but may also be fried or enhanced with shrimp paste, nuts or other spices; a popular recipe is sambal bajak.
Most Chinese cooking styles, as a rule of thumb, avoid too much spiciness; especially Southern Chinese (Cantonese) recipes. In Central China (Sichuan and Hu-nan province), however, chilies and garlic are very popular and used in astonishing amounts. Dried red chilies are often fried in hot oil until dark brown, the oil then being used to prepare stir-fries. The local tien tsin chili is particularly suited for this high-temperature procedure.
Another method of using chilies is doubanjiang (hot bean paste), a fiery paste prepared from chilies, garlic and soy beans by fermentation; it is most typical for Sichuan cookery. An example of Sichuan cookery is mapu tofu, spicy minced pork with bean cheese. For this dish, the pork is stir-fried together with doubanjiang and garlic and then combined with mild, soft bean cheese.
Although Vietnamese food is only moderately spiced, chilies are always available as optional additives at the table, either fresh or in fish sauce (nuoc mam), similar to Thai custom. This applies mostly to the South; in North Vietnam, garlic replaces chilies as condiment.
In Japan chilies are used less often than in any other Asian country. Chiles are rarely employed in cooking, but table condiments containing chilies are served with specific kinds of food. For example, dried chilies, either alone or in mixture with other spices (shichimi togarashi), are popular for spicing up soups.
In neighboring Korea, though, chilies are much loved. They are either used fully ripe and dried (a red powder of bright color and full heat), or in form of a chili-flavored hot bean paste.
South Indian and Sri Lankan cuisine uses fresh green chilies, which are taken in mind-boggling amounts for stir-fries and deep-fried lentil snacks. For curries, dried red chilies are usually preferred; three large tablespoons for one liter of curry is not unreasonable.
In Northern India, as well as in Central Asia, chilies are nearly always used dried. They are sold whole or ground at the market and are intensively fiery, intensively colored and intensively aromatic. Usually they are fried in fat so the pungency is distributed uniformly in the food.
Not surprisingly, chilies appear in many spice mixtures: Indian garam masala and sambar podi, curry powder, their Ethiopian pendent berebere and Arabic mixtures. Far Eastern examples include Japanese shichimi togarashi and the former mentioned Thai curry pastes.
Other spice preparations are made entirely or at least dominantly of chilies, like the hot pepper sauces of the Southern US and Mexico (containing mostly vinegar or lemon juice, garlic, salt and chilies, or Tunisian harissa, a fiery paste of dried red chilies, garlic, cumin (or caraway), coriander, olive oil and sometimes a hint of peppermint.
Red Chili Medicinal Properties:
Aside from their eye-opening flavor, perhaps the most surprising feature of chili peppers is their vitamin C content. Though we don't eat chili peppers in large quantities, the amount of vitamin C is still significant. Red chilies are full of beta-carotene. The nutritional aspect of hot peppers most interesting to researchers today, however, is capsaicin, the compound that gives chilies their "burn." Capsaicin seems to have a positive effect on blood cholesterol, and also works as an anticoagulant. And the "high" that some people experience when eating fiery chili-spiked foods is a perfectly safe one: Some scientists theorize that in response to the discomfort produced by the chilies' "burn," the brain releases endorphins, substances that, at high levels, can create a sensation of pleasure.
References:
the Epicenter Website