Chettinad red masala paste

The Chettiars are a group of merchants, bankers and traders from Tamil Nadu in south-eastern India. Their food is particularly hot and spicy, largely due to their long history of trade with South-East Asia, from where they acquired early access to many Chinese spices not commonly found or used in the rest of India. This is my adaptation of the essential flavours of the Chettinad cooking style — I use it as I would any other curry paste.