Dried Red Chilli — Teja

Teja is bought for heat, not colour. At roughly 75,000–100,000 Scoville it is the workhorse of Indian hot-sauce and pickle production and the usual feedstock for capsaicin extraction.

Supplied stemless or with stem, in cartons or compressed bales. Pungency is reported per lot, because heat varies with the season more than buyers expect and a sauce recipe calibrated to last year’s crop will not hold against this year’s without adjustment.

What to fix on the specification

• Scoville: as a range, reported per lot. Pungency moves with the season.
• ASTA colour: moderate, but state it if the application is colour-sensitive.
• Stem or stemless, and the packing form.
• Moisture: 10–12% maximum.
• Damaged and broken percentage.
• Aflatoxin: against the destination limit.

A sauce recipe calibrated against last year’s crop will usually need adjusting against this year’s, which is only possible if the supplier reports actual Scoville per lot. Teja or Byadgi covers choosing between the two.