more infoo about chili pepersz!!

The chili has a long association with and is extensively used in Mexican and certain South American cuisines, and later adapted into the emerging Tex-Mex cuisine. Although unknown in Africa and Asia until its introduction from the New World by the Europeans, the chili pepper has since become an essential pillar of the cuisines of Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Pakistan, Southwest China (including Sichuan cuisine), Sri Lanka, Thailand, and many other cooking traditions.

The fruit is eaten raw or cooked for its fiery hot flavour, concentrated along the top of the pod. The stem end of the pod has most of the glands that produce the capsaicin. The white flesh surrounding the seeds contains the highest concentration of capsaicin. Removing the inner membranes is thus effective at reducing the heat of a pod.


Fresh Indian Green Chilis sold in HAL market, Bangalore
A basket of chilli padi displayed in a Singaporean supermarket
Indian Vegetable Salad containing Lemon, Tomato, Radish, Beetroot, Cucumber and Green ChilliesChili is sold worldwide fresh, dried and powdered. In the United States, it is often made from the Mexican chile ancho variety, but with small amounts of cayenne added for heat. In the Southwest United States, dried ground chili peppers, cumin, garlic and oregano is often known as chili powder. Chipotles are dry, smoked red (ripe) jalapeños.

Chili peppers are used around the world to make a countless variety of sauces, known as hot sauce, chile sauce, or pepper sauce. In Turkey, chilis are known as Kırmızı Biber (red pepper) or Acı Biber (hot pepper), and are used in the form of either red pepper paste (Biber Salçasi), which can be hot or mild. Harissa is a hot pepper sauce made of chili, garlic and flavoured with spices, originating in Tunisia and widely used in its cuisine, both as a condiment and as seasoning. Harissa is also found in other North African cuisines, though it is often treated as a table condiment to be served on the side.

Indian cooking has multiple uses for chilis, from simple snacks like bhaji, where the chilis are dipped in batter and fried, to complex curries. Chilis are dried, roasted and salted as a side dish for rice varieties such as daddojanam ("dadhi" curd, "ojanam" rice in Sanskrit) or thayir sadam (curd rice) or daal rice (rice with lentils). The soaked and dried chillies are a seasoning ingredient in recipes such as kootu. It is called "mirapa" (మిరప)in telugu.

Sambal is a versatile relish made from chili peppers as well as other ingredients, such as garlic, onion, shallots, salt, vinegar and sugar, which is popular in Indonesia and Malaysia, and also in Sri Lanka (called "sambol") and South Africa, where they were introduced by Malay migrant workers who arrived in the 19th century. It can be used as a dipping sauce, as an ingredient in recipes and even as a dressing for cold dishes (or "salads").