Teja S17 Chili
Also known as Teja · S17 · S-17 · Guntur Teja · Teja Chilli · Teja Mirchi
Teja S17 is the slender high-heat dried red chilli that Guntur and the Andhra-Telangana belt ship when buyers want pungency more than color. Traders treat S17 as the heat grade for powder, flakes, and oleoresin.
About 1/2.2 the typical heat of a Capsi Jalapeño (31,902 SHU).
Growing
~90 days to maturity
Fruit size
5–9 cm
Flavor & Use
Sharp, biting pungency with a raw peppery edge. Little fruit. Some dried lots read earthy.
Culinary
About
Fresh pods are slender and pointed, about 5 to 9 cm without the stem and under 1.5 cm wide, with thin walls and a high seed load. They ripen from green to a bright red. Dried lots run smooth to lightly wrinkled, which is the form that matters in trade. Heat is hot and sharp rather than fruity. In the kitchen the pods go into tadka, Andhra pickles and chutneys, extra-hot powder, and oleoresin for sauces. Plants want a hot season, full sun, and soil that drains. Standing water is the usual way home growers lose them.
Backstory
Chilli reached the Coromandel with Portuguese ships. On the black cotton soils around Guntur and Khammam, growers kept thin, very hot red types for drying. By the late twentieth century the trade had settled on Teja, also labeled S17, as the high-pungency export chilli from that belt. ANGRAU lists it with Kashmiri and Byadgi as one of India’s three main red export cultivars. Lam Farm now sells LCA lines as alternatives. Private seed houses sell F1s into the same Teja market.
Appearance
Growing
Heritage
ExploreNothing reputable documents a pedigree for this pepper.
Sources
FAQ
- How hot is Teja S17 Chili?
- Capsi’s sourced range is 12,452–16,526 SHU (Lab-verified). Capsi uses a sourced range and a trust tier, not a single marketing number. How we verify heat: https://web.thecapsi.app/learn/heat-and-capsaicin/how-we-measure-heat
- What does Teja S17 Chili taste like?
- Sharp, biting pungency with a raw peppery edge. Little fruit. Some dried lots read earthy.
- How do I grow Teja S17 Chili?
- Teja S17 Chili: about 90 days to maturity, tropical climate, full sun, hardiness zones 9-11.
- What can I substitute for Teja S17 Chili?
- Cayenne, Jwala