Goan · Indian Cuisine

Reichado Masala

Name: Reichado Masala
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 8 minutes (roasting the spices)
Total time: 20 minutes
Yield: Makes about 200 g of paste
Ingredients: 20 g dried red chillies (about 10–15 chillies, depending on size and heat level); 1 g whole black peppercorns; 30 g garlic flakes (about 10–12 cloves); 1 g whole cloves (about 4–5); 2 g cinnamon (about 1 short stick); 2 g cumin seeds (about ½ teaspoon); 10 g coriander seeds (about 2 teaspoons); 2 g turmeric powder (about ½ teaspoon); 5 g sugar (about 1 teaspoon); 30 g tamarind block, soaked in 60 ml warm water and strained to a pulp; 30 ml white wine vinegar or malt vinegar

The fiery Goan red paste of dried chillies, vinegar, garlic, and roasted spices

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In Goan cooking, reichado masala is not a condiment that arrives at the table. It is the starting point that never shows itself directly. It is the paste stuffed into slitted mackerel before frying, the coating that gives stuffed prawns their fire, the base rubbed onto chicken before it meets the grill. To know this masala is to understand the engine behind much of what makes Goan coastal food distinct.

The combination is Goan through and through: dried red chillies ground with garlic (in quantities that would alarm most cooks), vinegar that carries the Portuguese influence still present in this cuisine three centuries after it arrived, tamarind for depth and sourness, and roasted whole spices — coriander, cumin, cloves, cinnamon — that are toasted carefully, at low heat, until fragrant but never dark. The instruction to keep the spices from darkening is specific and important: roasted-dark spices become bitter and overwhelming, overpowering the bright chilli and vinegar that are the soul of this paste.

The result, ground together with patience until completely smooth, is a paste the colour of dried brick: intensely aromatic, hot, sour, and complex. It keeps well in the refrigerator and is the kind of preparation that rewards making in a larger batch.

At a Glance

Yield

Makes about 200 g of paste

Prep

10 minutes

Cook

8 minutes (roasting the spices)

Total

20 minutes

Difficulty

Easy

Ingredients

Makes about 200 g of paste

3¼ tbspdried red chillies (about 10–15 chillies, depending on size and heat level)
⅓ tspwhole black peppercorns
¼ cupgarlic flakes (about 10–12 cloves)
½ tspwhole cloves (about 4–5)
⅞ tspcinnamon (about 1 short stick)
1 tspcumin seeds (about ½ teaspoon)
1¾ tbspcoriander seeds (about 2 teaspoons)
¾ tspturmeric powder (about ½ teaspoon)
1¼ tspsugar (about 1 teaspoon)
1 oztamarind block, soaked in 60 ml warm water and strained to a pulp
1 fl ozwhite wine vinegar or malt vinegar

Method

1
Soak the tamarind. Break the tamarind block (30 g) into the warm water and leave for 10 minutes, squeezing and working it into the water. Strain through a sieve, pressing well, to extract a smooth, dark pulp. Discard the fibres and seeds.
2
Roast the whole spices. In a dry frying pan over very low heat, add the coriander seeds (2 teaspoons), cumin (½ teaspoon), cloves (4–5), and cinnamon (1 short stick). Toast gently, stirring constantly, for 4–5 minutes until fragrant. The spices should be aromatic and a shade or two darker — but must not turn dark brown or black, which would make them bitter. Remove immediately from the pan onto a cool plate.
3
Combine and grind. Transfer the roasted spices to a blender or spice grinder. Add the dried red chillies (10–15 chillies, depending on size and heat level), peppercorns, garlic (10–12 cloves), turmeric (½ teaspoon), sugar (1 teaspoon), tamarind pulp, and vinegar. Blend to a completely smooth, fine paste. If the blender is struggling, add a tablespoon of water at a time to get it moving — but keep the paste thick.
4
Taste and adjust. The paste should be intensely hot, sour, aromatic, and slightly sweet. Adjust with a little more sugar if too sharp, or more vinegar if it needs brightness. Taste with caution — it is concentrated.
5
Store in a clean glass jar in the refrigerator for up to 4 weeks.

Key Ingredient Benefits

Dried red chillies retain most of their capsaicin content through drying and grinding. Capsaicin research has explored its potential role in metabolism, pain relief (topically), and cardiovascular function, though the dietary quantities in a paste like this are small enough that no specific effect should be expected.

Tamarind (Tamarindus indica) is a key souring agent across South and Southeast Asian cooking and also appears throughout West African cuisine. It is rich in tartaric acid and contains significant amounts of magnesium and iron. In Ayurvedic tradition, tamarind is used as a digestive and considered cooling despite its sour taste.

Garlic in the quantities used here (30 g is a lot) gives the paste a pungent, slightly raw depth that mellows when the paste is cooked into a dish but remains present. Garlic contains allicin, which has been studied extensively for its antimicrobial and potential cardiovascular properties.

Why This Works

Roasting the spices on very low heat (rather than the high heat typically used for tempering) is the crucial technique here. Low-heat roasting dries and develops the volatile aromatic compounds in each spice without driving them off or carbonising them. The difference in the finished paste is measurable: low-roasted spices produce a paste with floral, complex warmth; high-roasted spices produce bitterness.

Vinegar and tamarind together provide a double layer of sourness: vinegar's sharp acetic acid from the outside, tamarind's fruity tartaric and citric acids from within. The combination is more interesting than either alone and is a defining characteristic of Goan sour cooking, which layers acidic notes rather than relying on a single source.

Sugar is not a sweetener here. At this quantity it acts as a balancer, rounding the edges of the chilli heat and the vinegar sharpness without making the paste taste sweet.

Storage & Reheating

Keeps in a sealed jar in the refrigerator for up to 4 weeks. The vinegar and acid act as preservatives. Ensure no water or contaminating moisture enters the jar. The paste can also be frozen in small portions for up to 3 months.