spice blend
Dried red chillies and garlic
Jambu
Measured by pinch; variable mixture, so no spoon/piece weight given.
Instead of Dried red chillies and garlic
Dried red chilliUse about 60–70% of the blend weight as crushed dried red chilli, and add fresh garlic paste at about 30–40% of the blend weight. Soak the chillies if a smooth paste is needed. Keeps the heat and garlic but loses the dried-garlic depth.
Red chilli pasteUse about 1.5 times the weight and stir in 1 crushed garlic clove per 10 g of blend. Fresher and wetter, so fry a little longer to drive off moisture.
Dried red chilli flakesUse the same weight of flakes and add garlic paste at about half the flakes' weight. Quicker, no soaking, but coarser and less rounded.
