Kashmiri red chillies and fennel in cooking

Two spices do a lot of the work in a Kashmiri kitchen: dried red chillies and fennel. Kashmiri red chillies give a dish its deep red colour with a mild, fruity heat. Fennel, or saunf, brings a sweet, fragrant note that runs through many dishes from the valley. Both are in Harud Spices, and here is how to cook with them.

Kashmiri red chillies

Kashmiri chillies are known more for their colour than their bite. They are long and wrinkled, and a deep, dark red when dried. Ground, they turn a curry red without making it fiery, which is why cooks across India reach for them when they want colour more than heat. Rogan josh owes much of its colour to them.

Using whole dried chillies

1. 1Step 1: Wipe the chillies with a dry cloth. Snap off the stalks, and shake out some of the seeds if you want even less heat.
2. 2Step 2: For tempering, heat oil or ghee, add one or two whole chillies and let them darken for a few seconds before the rest of your spices go in. Watch them: burnt chillies taste bitter and the smoke catches in your throat.
3. 3Step 3: For a paste, soak the chillies in hot water for 15 to 20 minutes until soft, then grind them with a little of the soaking water. Use it in curries and marinades for a bright red colour.
4. 4Step 4: For chilli powder, warm the chillies very lightly in a dry pan, let them cool, and grind them in a spice grinder.

Fennel, or saunf

Fennel seeds are small, pale green and ridged, with a sweet, aniseed-like flavour. In much of India they are chewed after a meal, sometimes with a little sugar. In Kashmiri cooking, ground fennel goes into gravies, often with dried ginger, and its sweetness balances the chilli.

Cooking with fennel

• Whole, in tempering. Add half a teaspoon to hot oil with cumin and let it crackle before the onions go in.
• Ground, in gravies. Dry roast the seeds lightly, cool and grind them. Stir a spoonful into a curry towards the end.
• In breads and biscuits. A pinch in paratha dough or a batch of biscuits adds a sweet fragrance.
• In pickles and chutneys. Fennel and red chilli together are a familiar pair in many Indian pickles.
• After a meal. Lightly roasted fennel, on its own or with a little sugar, is the simplest after-dinner nibble there is.

A simple red gravy

To taste the two together, try this home version of the valley's red gravies. Soak four or five Kashmiri chillies and grind them to a paste. Heat oil and add a couple of cardamom pods, a bay leaf and a few cloves. Add the chilli paste and cook it gently until the oil separates. Stir in a spoonful of ground fennel and a pinch of dried ginger powder, then a cup of whisked yoghurt, a little at a time and stirring all the while so it does not split. Add water, salt and your vegetables or cooked meat, and simmer until it thickens. It is a forgiving recipe, and easy to adjust to your taste.

Storing whole spices

Keep chillies and fennel in airtight jars away from the stove, where heat and steam dull them. Whole spices hold their flavour longer than ground ones, so grind in small batches. If saffron is next on your list, how to use saffron covers soaking and how much to add.