Skip to content
FriendsPantry
Red chilli flakes

Dried chillies

Red chilli flakes

Capsicum spp.

Crushed dried red chillies with seeds: from fiery crushed red pepper to mild, oily Aleppo and Urfa pepper.

Also called: pul biber, aleppo pepper, urfa biber, crushed red pepper, chilli flakes, pepper flakes, gochugaru, isot

  • Hot & numbing
  • Fruity & sour
  • Medium
Buying & storing138 recipes

Photo: Takeaway, via Wikimedia Commons (CC-BY-SA-4.0)

Flavour and aroma

hot, fruity, slightly bitter. Hot and fruity; heat varies by type.

Heat
Medium
Forms
flakes

How to use it

  • bloom in fat · Tadka (tempering) technique

    Warm in oil or butter over low heat for 20–30 seconds (for pasta aglio e olio, or the Turkish chilli butter poured over manti and çılbır) until the fat turns red; don't let it darken.

  • use raw

    Sprinkle on pizza, eggs and salads at the table.

  • Sprinkled on pizza and pasta
  • Turkish dishes, eggs and kebabs
  • Chilli oils and dressings
  • Kimchi (gochugaru)
  • Stir-fries and marinades

Identifying good quality

Crushed dried red chilli with visible seeds. Turkish pul biber is darker red, slightly oily and milder; Western crushed red pepper is drier, brighter and hotter, with more seeds. Fresh flakes smell fruity; dusty, faded flakes are old.

  • Not to be confused with Aleppo pepper: Aleppo pepper is a specific milder, oilier, fruity flake.
  • Not to be confused with Urfa biber: Urfa biber is purple-black and smoky-raisiny.
  • Not to be confused with Gochugaru (Korean chilli flakes): Gochugaru is brighter, sweeter and mostly seedless.

Origin and history

Origin: Capsicum is native to the Americas.. Grown and used: Made worldwide; Turkish pul biber (from Maraş and Gaziantep) and Italian-style crushed red pepper are the most common types in shops..

Chillies spread around the Mediterranean and the Ottoman Empire in the 16th century after arriving from the Americas. Crushed chilli became an everyday table seasoning in Turkey (pul biber), southern Italy (peperoncino) and the US, where shakers of crushed red pepper sit on pizzeria tables.

Commonly told; not firmly documented

In masalas, pastes and sauces

Recipes with red chilli flakes

128 more