Mosdeng Serma

Tripuri roasted chilli condiment — dried red chillies roasted directly over fire or in a dry pan until blistered and charred in spots, then pounded in a mortar with raw shallots, garlic, green chilli, salt, and sometimes a small piece of berma into a coarse, rough paste. The roasting of the dry chilli is the defining step: it produces a smoky, bitter-edged heat unlike either fresh or un-roasted dried chilli. The mosdeng is not a cooked chutney but a raw preparation eaten immediately; it has a thick, textured paste consistency and is used in small quantities as an intense condiment alongside rice, pork, or fish. Mosdeng serma (serma = chilli/pepper in Kokborok) is the base flavour backbone of Tripuri cooking — it appears in various forms at every meal. Considered the Tripuri equivalent of Northeast India's raja mircha (king chilli) preparations.