Dried red chilli (spur) noun

The long dried chilli that gives red curry paste its colour and base heat.

Warm, rounded heat with a raisin-like sweetness and a faint smokiness; far less sharp than fresh bird's-eye.

Soak in warm water for twenty minutes, deseed, and pound into red curry paste; toast lightly and grind for chilli flakes (prik pon); fry whole in oil to flavour stir-fries.

Sun-dried in the Thai countryside after the harvest, these chillies are the foundation of every red paste: red curry, panang, massaman and chilli jam all begin with them.