Chiles, red and green

In the world of Indian curries, two fresh chiles stand out: cayenne and Thai. The cayenne (named after the city of Cayenne in French Guiana, and green when fresh, red when dried) is long and slender—usually 4 to 8 inches long and about ½ inch thick. The Thai chile (sometimes erroneously called bird’s-eye) is the green of a bell pepper and about 2 inches long (true bird’s-eye chiles are much smaller and two to three times hotter). The serrano chile—also bell-pepper-green, but about 3 inches long and thicker than the other two peppers—is the mildest of the three, and an alternative I recommend because of its wider availability.