A Mangalorean ghee roast is a paste of soaked Byadgi chillies and roasted whole spices, fried slowly in ghee until the fat separates, soured with tamarind and rounded with a little jaggery, then tossed with paneer, chicken or prawns. The ghee goes in in stages, and the quantity is the main difference between a home version and a restaurant one.
At a glance
- Byadagi chilli is a registered Geographical Indication of Karnataka: GI Registry application 129, filed by the Spices Board, certificate dated 27 January 2011.
- A 2025 paper in the Journal of Farm Sciences describes Byadgi cultivars as known for deep red colour (160 to 180 ASTA) and very low pungency (500 to 5,000 SHU).
- USDA FoodData Central lists ghee at 900 kcal per 100 g, so each 15 g ICMR-NIN tablespoon in the pan adds 135 kcal.
- ICMR-NIN's 2024 guidelines say to limit ghee or butter to 1 to 2 teaspoons a day, which is 5 to 10 g on their 5 g teaspoon.
What is a Mangalorean ghee roast?
A ghee roast is a Mangalorean dish in which the main ingredient is coated in a thick, deep red chilli masala fried in ghee. It is closer to dry than to a gravy. Chicken and prawn are the commoner versions; this article uses paneer, because the technique is the same and it cooks in minutes.
The dish is widely attributed to Kundapur, a town near Udupi. We could not open a source we would cite for that, so it stays an attribution, not a fact.
Why Byadgi chillies, and what goes into the masala?
Byadgi chillies give the dish its colour without making it fierce. Byadagi chilli is a registered Geographical Indication of Karnataka (GI Registry application 129, applicant the Spices Board, certificate dated 27 January 2011).
A 2025 paper from the University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad, in the Journal of Farm Sciences, describes Byadgi cultivars as "known for their deep red colour (160-180) ASTA, very low pungency (500-5000 SHU), very high rudrakshi wrinkles, low seed content" and "high extractable oleoresin oil from fruits". ASTA measures colour and SHU pungency. The practical point: you can use ten or twelve chillies for colour where a hotter chilli would allow only a few.
The rest of the masala is our starting point, not a standard; recipes differ. For 400 g of paneer:
- 10 to 12 dried Byadgi chillies, stems removed, soaked in hot water for 20 minutes
- 1 tablespoon coriander seeds, 1 teaspoon cumin seeds, ½ teaspoon black peppercorns, ¼ teaspoon fenugreek seeds, dry-roasted
- 6 to 8 garlic cloves
- A lime-sized ball of tamarind, soaked, or 1 tablespoon thick pulp
- 1 teaspoon grated jaggery
- ½ teaspoon turmeric, salt, and a sprig of curry leaves for the pan
Roast the whole spices on low heat and stop before they darken; in our experience scorched fenugreek turns the whole batch bitter.
Why is the paste fried in ghee until the fat separates?
Two reasons, one of which a source we opened supports. The first is colour: the red of a chilli is carried by pigments that go into fat. A Chemical and Technical Assessment prepared for the 77th meeting of JECFA, the FAO/WHO food additives committee, says paprika extract from Capsicum annuum "primarily consists of carotenoid pigments and extracted or added vegetable oil", names capsanthin and capsorubin as "the main compounds responsible for the red colour", and says such extracts are used "to obtain a deep red colour in any food that has a liquid/fat phase". Frying the chilli paste in ghee is the kitchen version: the pigment moves into the fat, and the fat coats the paneer.
The second reason is our practice, not a published finding. The paste is mostly water from the soaked chillies and tamarind. As it fries, that water cooks off, the raw taste of chilli and garlic goes, and the paste darkens from bright red to brick. Ghee showing clear at the edges is the sign that the water is gone and the masala is cooked.
Why do tamarind and jaggery go in?
Because chilli and salt on their own are flat. This is cook's practice, not something we can cite. Tamarind supplies the sourness that lifts the masala, and the small amount of jaggery takes the edge off both the sourness and the chilli. Neither should be tasted as itself; if you can pick out the jaggery, there is too much.
Add the tamarind with the paste, because it needs the frying time to lose its rawness. Add the jaggery at the end, once the ghee has separated, and taste before adding more.
Why does the ghee go in in stages?
Because the ghee is doing two different jobs. The first portion is the cooking medium for the paste. The second is added as the paste thickens and begins to catch, so that it keeps frying rather than sticking. The last spoonful goes in off the heat, where it barely cooks and its own aroma reaches the plate. Our guide to when to add ghee in a tadka and in everyday cooking sets out that early-or-late rule for other dishes; a ghee roast uses both ends of it in one pan. Adding all the ghee at the start fries the paste in a deep pool, which takes longer to thicken and uses more ghee than the dish needs.
How do you make paneer ghee roast step by step?
Roast and grind the masala, fry it in ghee in stages until the fat separates, balance it with jaggery, then fold in the paneer for the last few minutes. Quantities are our starting points for 400 g of paneer, serving four; the ghee for each version is in the table below.
- Soak and roast. Soak the chillies in hot water for 20 minutes. Dry-roast the coriander, cumin, peppercorns and fenugreek on low heat until fragrant.
- Grind. Grind the drained chillies, roasted spices, garlic, tamarind and turmeric with a little soaking water to a smooth, thick paste.
- Prepare the paneer. Cut 400 g of paneer into 2 to 3 cm cubes.
- First ghee. Heat half of your ghee in a heavy, wide pan over medium heat. Add the curry leaves, then the paste.
- Fry. Cook on medium-low heat, stirring often, for 10 to 15 minutes, until the paste thickens, darkens to brick red and begins to catch.
- Second ghee. When it catches, add most of the remaining ghee and keep frying until the ghee shows clear at the edges.
- Balance. Stir in the salt and jaggery and taste. Add a splash of hot water only if the masala is too stiff to coat the paneer.
- Paneer. Add the cubes and turn them gently through the masala for 3 to 4 minutes, until hot and coated. Longer makes paneer tough.
- Finish. Off the heat, stir in the last spoonful of ghee. Rest for two minutes and serve.
How much ghee does a ghee roast use, and what does it add?
Two to eight tablespoons for a batch serving four, depending on how close to a restaurant version you want. The table works the calories from USDA FoodData Central's entry for clarified butter (ghee): 900 kcal and 60 g of saturated fat per 100 g, or 9 kcal and 0.6 g per gram. The tablespoon is ICMR-NIN's 15 g household measure and the teaspoon its 5 g; our guide to ghee spoon measures in grams explains why other references differ.
| Version | Ghee per batch (serves 4) | Grams (× 15 g) | Calories from ghee (grams × 9) | Per serving (÷ 4) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Light | 2 tablespoons | 30 g | 30 × 9 = 270 kcal | 7.5 g ghee (1.5 teaspoons); 67.5, about 68 kcal; 4.5 g saturated fat |
| Standard | 4 tablespoons | 60 g | 60 × 9 = 540 kcal | 15 g ghee (3 teaspoons); 135 kcal; 9 g saturated fat |
| Restaurant-rich | 8 tablespoons | 120 g | 120 × 9 = 1,080 kcal | 30 g ghee (6 teaspoons); 270 kcal; 18 g saturated fat |
ICMR-NIN's 2024 Dietary Guidelines for Indians say: "Limit ghee or butter to just 1 to 2 teaspoons/day or avoid, if possible." On their 5 g teaspoon that is 5 to 10 g a day. The light version puts 7.5 g on each of four plates; the standard version 15 g, over the range from this one dish; the restaurant version 30 g, three times the upper figure. The guidelines also say: "Use of SF is considered high when more than 10g/day of visible saturated fats (for a 2000 Kcal diet/ day) is consumed in the form of ghee, butter". A standard serving carries 9 g of saturated fat from ghee alone, a restaurant serving 18 g.
The light version is a complete ghee roast, not a compromise: the paste still fries, the fat still separates, and the colour is the same. If a doctor or dietitian has set your fat intake, follow their advice rather than the table.
The paste is fried on medium-low heat and the final spoon barely cooks, so the flavour of the ghee reaches the plate. Our article on ghee's smoke point and when it matters covers the opposite case, hard frying, where that flavour is lost. For a ghee roast, a curd-churned ghee such as Himdhara's A2 bilona ghee is worth using, because you will taste it.
The short version
A Mangalorean ghee roast is a paste of soaked Byadgi chillies, roasted whole spices, garlic and tamarind, fried in ghee until the fat separates, balanced with a little jaggery and tossed with paneer, chicken or prawns. Byadgi is the chilli because it is deep red and very mild. The ghee goes in in stages: some to fry, more as the paste catches, a spoon at the end for aroma. Each 15 g tablespoon adds 135 kcal to the pan, and even the light version puts 7.5 g on a plate against ICMR-NIN's 5 to 10 g a day, so treat it as an occasional dish.
Sources
Further reading behind the figures above. Himdhara's own numbers — yields, batch results — come from our production records and the batch reports on the lab reports page.
- Geographical Indications Registry, Government of India. Byadagi Chilli, Application No. 129. GI Registry public search, Intellectual Property India.
- Shivakumar MP, Biradar K, Naidu GK, Prabhu ST (2025). Genetic variability in local collections of Byadgi chilli (Capsicum annum L) for qualitative and quantitative traits. Journal of Farm Sciences, 38(1), University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad.
- Cantrill R (2008, revised 2013). Paprika Extract: Chemical and Technical Assessment (CTA), prepared for the 77th JECFA. FAO/WHO Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives.
- ICMR-National Institute of Nutrition (2024). Dietary Guidelines for Indians. ICMR-NIN, Hyderabad.
- U.S. Department of Agriculture (2019). Butter, Clarified butter (ghee). FoodData Central (SR Legacy).