Move over, chilli oil. It’s thecha’s turn now

I was recently dining at Kalpaney, a vegetarian fine-dining restaurant in Bengaluru’s Indiranagar serving everything from north and south Indian fare to southeast Asian delicacies, when I got a taste of it. My naan came topped with an unassuming green paste. One bite into it, and the Mumbaikar in me immediately knew this wasn’t the plain ol’ coriander chutney or pesto. It was… thecha! My brain was not ready for this, but I was quite delighted nonetheless.

After spending most of my life in Mumbai, my family and I moved to Bengaluru around six years ago. We’ve since traded our vada pavs and sev puris for equally flavoursome kara bath and akki roti. So, stumbling upon a familiar flavour was a good surprise. But thecha on naan? Was it something I should have been prepared for?

Six months ago, ever since Malaika Arora’s homestyle recipe for thecha-coated paneer went viral (it is also served at her Bandra restaurant Scarlett House), thecha’s got a personality makeover of sorts. My feed has since been flooded with aajis sharing thecha recipes with the perfect chilli to peanut to coriander ratio, and I have followed Subko’s chef Daniel Trulson on his Dadar market run to pick the ingredients for this traditional Maharashtrian chutney that will eventually somehow find a spot on their menu.

Thecha is an accompaniment made with roasted green chillies, garlic, peanuts, and coriander, all hand-pounded in a mortar and pestle. In fact, ‘thecha’ itself comes from the Marathi word ‘thechne’, which means to crush or pound. It’s therefore not supposed to be a smooth paste but a chunky, coarse condiment. This was traditionally eaten with bhakri, a flatbread made of rice flour, salt, and water. The spicy—or as Maharashtrians say, zanzanit—thecha lends the otherwise simple meal depth with its flavour and heat.

But let’s be clear: thecha is neither a new ingredient nor a recent discovery. What’s catching our attention is the innovative ways in which the humble Maharashtrian staple is being reimagined. The coarse green chutney is making an appearance on avocado toast, prawn fry, chilly chicken, and even cocktails. In the past, we’ve witnessed condiments like crispy chilli oil and gochujang go mainstream. Crispy chilli oil, known as hóng yóu in Sichuan cuisine and traditionally used as a dipping sauce or a dressing, is generously added on everything from omlettes to idlis today, while gochujang, the fermented sweet and savoury Korean staple, has made its way into salads and potatoe preps across the globe.

But how and when did thecha graduate to gourmet? Sombir Chaudhary, co-founder, Kalpaney and Kompany Hospitality, says, “I think thecha has a flavour profile that naturally works across cuisines. It’s garlicky, nutty, spicy, and has the right kind of heat without being masala-heavy.”

At his cocktail bar, Soka, Chaudhary serves up fiery thecha prawns, which have become a crowd favourite. “We’ve had guests specifically asking for the thecha prawns and the thecha naan, which tells us that the flavour is connecting with people,” he says. According to Chaudhary, traditional Indian flavours are finding their way into more contemporary menus, both within India and internationally. Thecha is one example of that.

It’s what drew chef Velton Saldanha, head of culinary at Subko, to it: “Thecha is bold, versatile, and works well with a variety of ingredients. It can take a familiar dish and give it a completely new identity. People today are more open to experimenting with regional Indian flavours.”

At Subko’s SOPI (short for Subcontinent Origin Pizza Initiative or SOurdough PIzza), thecha is the hero of ‘When Honey Met Thecha’—a dedication to mighty Maharashtra on a pizza slice. The thecha is drizzled atop a house-made white sauce with zucchini, spinach, and garlic confit and doused with hot honey. Apart from the thecha pizza, SOPI is also using thecha in a dill mushroom quiche. In fact, they’ve created something called ‘thechachurri’, a combination of thecha and chimichurri that they use as a garnish on the quiche. “Thecha is a very versatile ingredient, and there are many ways to use it beyond its traditional form. The key is to make sure it complements the dish rather than overpowering the other flavours,” adds chef Saldanha.

Take a closer look at menus across India and you see thecha has made it through the length and breadth of the country. Jacob’s Brew House in Jaipur’s Malviya Nagar has a popular thecha avocado toast on the menu, where creamy avocado thecha is spread over golden sourdough toast and topped with sour cream and toasted sesame seeds. On its beer-paired menu, the Independence Brewing Company, at its Pune and Mumbai outlets, dishes out its IBCorn Thecha Ribs—crispy ribs tossed in fiery Maharashtrian thecha and served with curry cheese sauce. The suggested beer pairing with this is Hefeweizen, a Weiss-style wheat beer. The result? Smoky, spice-forward corn ribs that are balanced by the soft wheat malt and fruity esters of the beer.

Salt, a fine-dining Indian restaurant and grill, across its branches in Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, Pune, and Mumbai, serves up a delicious thecha broccoli dish, where chargrilled florets are marinated in spicy thecha masala made with green chillies, peanuts crumble, coriander, and light cheese. They also have a thecha chilli chicken on the menu.

But the experimentation with this condiment are not limited to restaurants and chef kitchens. A simple YouTube search leads us to home bakers experimenting with thecha babkas, thecha butter, thecha cream cheese rolls, creamy thecha omlettes, thecha cheese fries... And of course, there is even thecha mayo as a dip. While most sound like they’d somehow work, I am not sure if I have the appetite for Thai thecha twists with Thai red chilli, or, for that matter, thecha noodles. But like they say, don’t knock it till you try it.

Thecha for a tipple

Like most food groups today, this condiment has also made its way into drinks. Bombay Brasserie, across its many outlets, pours an addictive kairi thecha picante with Camino Blanco tequila, a house-made kairi-thecha cordial, fresh raw mango, and green chillies. Native Bombay in Mumbai’s Ballard Estate too does a zesty thecha picante with Jose Cuervo tequila, thecha, raw mango, agave, cilantro, and lime. In Goa, Mini Bar, the cocktail-forward lobby bar at The Passport Hotel in Assagaon, serves up a cocktail called Hot Girl Club featuring, wait for it…a thecha salt rim! The drink is a refreshing feni and tequila blanco cocktail with house-fermented pineapple tepache liqueur, green chillies, lime, and soda.

So, is thecha the next crispy chilli oil? Could it find a place on menus and plates around the world, moving beyond its Maharashtrian roots? Chaudhary thinks it can. “I wouldn’t be surprised if we eventually started seeing thecha powders, condiments, and other interpretations becoming more common,” he says. To him, this feels like a larger movement where Indian ingredients are gaining recognition globally. “For a long time, we’ve looked internationally for inspiration, but there’s so much within our own regional cuisines that can travel just as well,” he says.

And if you thought you have seen it all, chef Saldanha has another unexpected application: thecha ice cream. “It might sound unusual, but I think the combination of thecha, honey, and a creamy base could be quite interesting. You would get sweetness, spice, and a savoury note all in one bite.”

We’d try that. After all, thecha has already proved it can do more than bring the heat.