Harekala Chillies (Dabbi Mirchi/ Dabbi Mirsaang/ Guddi Mirsang)

Harekala Chillies/ Guddi Mirsaang/ Dabbi Mirchi are a popular variety of Chillies available in Southern region of India. It gets its name from the popular village Harekala located in Dakshin Kannada, Karnataka. These chillies are very seeded, non-crinkly, also have a smooth texture and are very spicy as compared to the other popular variety of Chilli, also known as Byadgi Chillies. This variety of Chilli finds lot of importance and use in GSB Konkani cuisine.

Typically, once the harvest season is complete, sacks of these chillies are out for sale and available in local groceries and market places. In Konkani cuisine, they are specially used for getting the most sought after red colour and also to take the heat levels a few notches up. In many households, for any curry and masala, a 1:1 ratio of these chillies and Byadgi chillies are added to balance the flavour, heat and the rich red colour. Apart from regular green chillies, these two varieties of red chillies are always found in any GSB Konkani household.