Coarsely Crack Black Pepper and Add It Late

In Kerala pepper chicken the heat comes from black pepper, not chili — so treat the peppercorns as the headline ingredient. Crack them coarsely in a mortar and pestle rather than a fine grinder, and add the bulk of them in the final minutes of cooking. Added late and coarse, the pepper toasts and coats the meat while keeping its fragrant, aromatic bite; ground fine or stirred in early, it cooks down into a flat, dull background warmth instead of the vibrant punch the dish is built around.