Chilli was something that was imported only a little over 450 years ago. In India, it only made an appearance in Indian kitchens around 1542 in the Malabar region, thanks to foreign travellers or traders. Although the chilli per se is an ancient crop, with accounts of it dating as far back as 7500 BC in South America (which predates the Indus Valley civilisation), it was only thousands of years later that it made it to India. It came to Indians when Portuguese ferried with them with ingredients like pineapple, corn, papaya, cashew nut, sweet potato, tomato, custard apple and sapodilla (chiku), which they had gotten acquainted with during their interactions in South and Central America.
Sonal Ved, author













