How to Control the Heat in Pakistani Food

Pakistani food has a reputation for being hot, and some of it is, but heat is one of the easiest things to adjust in a recipe, once you know where it comes from. Cooking for children, for a guest who can’t take chili, or for friends who want it fiery? Here’s how to control it.

Know your sources of heat

Not all heat is the same, and Pakistani cooking uses several kinds.

Red chili powder (lal mirch). The main source of heat in most curries. Pakistani chili powder is strong; a teaspoon is a lot.

Kashmiri chili powder. A milder variety used mainly for colour. You can swap some ordinary chili powder for Kashmiri chili to keep the red colour with less heat.

Red chili flakes (kutti lal mirch). Crushed dried chilies with their seeds, giving sharp heat and visible red flecks, especially in karahi and kebabs.

Green chilies (hari mirch). A fresher, sharper heat that varies a lot from chili to chili. Most of the heat is in the pale membranes and seeds.

Black pepper. A warm, slow-building heat felt more in the throat than on the tongue. It’s the main heat in black pepper chicken and white karahi.

Dried whole red chilies. Used in tarkas and some Chinese dishes, like the chili paste in Szechuan chicken.

Making a recipe milder

• Halve the chili powder, or replace half with Kashmiri chili for colour.
• Deseed green chilies, or add them whole and remove them before serving.
• Leave out the chili flakes.
• Add more onion, tomato or yogurt, which soften heat and add body.
• Cook a mild base and add heat at the table with green chutney, chili flakes or a chili tarka. See our guide to mild desi food for children.

Making it hotter

• Add green chilies near the end for fresh, sharp heat.
• Increase chili flakes for visible, punchy heat.
• Finish with a chili tarka: chili powder sizzled in hot ghee, off the heat, and poured over.
• Add black pepper for a warm, lingering heat.

Increase gradually. You can always add more heat, but you can’t take it out.

Rescuing a curry that’s too hot

It happens to everyone. Before serving, you can:

• Add more of everything except the chili: extra tomato, onion masala, water or stock, and a little more meat or vegetables if you have them, effectively diluting the heat.
• Stir in yogurt or cream, off the heat, to soften it. This works well for qorma and handi.
• Add a little sugar or lemon juice. Sweetness and acidity balance heat, though they won’t remove it.
• Add potatoes: they absorb some heat and bulk out the dish.

At the table:

• Serve with plenty of plain rice or roti.
• Offer raita, plain yogurt or lassi. Dairy is the best antidote to chili heat, much better than water, which just spreads it around.

Chili heat varies

Not all chili powder is equally hot, and green chilies vary enormously, even from the same bag. A recipe that’s perfect with one batch can be fiery with the next. Taste as you go, add chili in stages, and adjust at the end.

Heat isn’t flavour

Finally, it’s worth remembering that good Pakistani food isn’t about heat for its own sake. The best dishes balance chili with the warmth of whole spices, the depth of a well-cooked masala and the freshness of herbs and lemon. Dishes like malai boti, qorma and pulao show that desi food can be full of flavour with very little chili at all.