Pipli (Long Pepper): Cooking Uses, Buying and Pregnancy Caution

A warning first: pipli (long pepper) is a strong spice sold in pansar shops as a “remedy”, and it is not something to take by the spoonful in pregnancy. Used as a pinch in food, though, it’s a fascinating old pepper with a sweeter, deeper heat than kali mirch.

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What pipli actually is

Long before black pepper became the everyday spice, long pepper was prized across South Asia and traded west. Each “stick” is a spike of many tiny fruits fused together. Pipli is closely related to kali mirch and contains the same family of pungent compounds, including piperine, so its heat is familiar but its aroma is rounder, a little like black pepper with a hint of liquorice and warm resin.

In Pakistan you’ll find it mainly at pansar and herbal shops rather than in supermarket spice racks, often sold as whole spikes, sometimes ground. The root (pipla mool) is sold separately and is a different product with its own traditional uses; this guide is about the fruit spikes.

Buying pipli (long pepper)

1. Ask for whole spikes, not powder. Ground pipli is easy to mix with cheaper pepper dust.
2. Look for firm, dry spikes of even grey-brown to dark brown colour. Avoid ones that crumble to dust at a touch, which usually means old stock or insect damage.
3. Snap one. The inside should look dense and the smell should be sharp and sweet immediately.
4. Check the bag for tiny holes, powdery residue or live insects. Long pepper sitting open in a shop through monsoon is a common weevil home.
5. Buy small, 20 to 25 g. A little lasts a long time.

Genuine pipli costs more than kali mirch. Very cheap spikes that are thin, pale and weak-smelling are likely old or of poor grade.

Using long pepper in food

Treat pipli like a stronger, more aromatic black pepper. It suits slow-cooked, meaty and winter dishes.

Preparing it

1. Warm 2 to 3 spikes in a dry pan on low for about 1 minute until fragrant. This makes them easier to grind.
2. Cool, then crush in a mortar or grind in a small spice grinder.
3. Use straight away, or store the extra in a tiny sealed jar for a few weeks.

Where it works

• Nihari and paye: 1 spike, crushed, added with the other whole spices for a pot serving 4 to 6.
• Homemade garam masala: 2 to 3 spikes in a batch made from about 50 g mixed whole spices.
• Yakhni and winter soups: 1 whole spike simmered in about 1.5 litres, removed before serving.
• Achar: a few crushed spikes in a large jar of mixed vegetable pickle, alongside rai and saunf.
• Meat marinades: a quarter teaspoon ground per 500 g.

If a recipe calls for long pepper and you have none, use a little less than the same amount of black pepper plus a small pinch of ground dalchini for sweetness.

A winter spice mix with pipli

Here’s a small-batch masala for nihari, paye and winter yakhni that shows off long pepper without letting it take over. It makes about 40 g, enough for four to five large pots.

1. Measure 1 tablespoon saunf, 1 tablespoon regular zeera, 2 teaspoons kali mirch, 2 pipli spikes broken into pieces, 1 teaspoon sonth (dry ginger powder), 4 laung, 1 badi elaichi (seeds only), 1 small piece dalchini (about 3 cm) and a quarter of a jaiphal, grated.
2. Dry roast everything except the sonth and jaiphal on the lowest heat for 2 minutes, stirring, until the saunf smells sweet.
3. Cool on a plate for 10 minutes.
4. Grind fine with the sonth and grated jaiphal.
5. Store in a small airtight glass jar and use within 2 months.

Use 1 to 1.5 teaspoons per pot of nihari serving six, stirred in during the last 30 minutes of cooking. For yakhni, half a teaspoon per 1.5 litres. The pipli gives a slow warmth that builds as you eat, rather than the instant bite of black pepper.

If you’re cooking for small children, older family members with sensitive stomachs, or anyone pregnant, leave the pipli out of that pot and use plain kali mirch instead.

The pansar-shop remedy problem

You’ll see pipli recommended online and in shops for coughs, weight, periods, digestion and after childbirth, often in mixtures with honey, ghee or other powders, and sometimes in quantities of a teaspoon or more daily. That’s a very different thing from a crushed spike in a pot of nihari.

Concentrated pungent spices in large amounts can irritate the stomach lining and bring on heartburn, and piperine-type compounds can change how the body absorbs and processes certain medicines. Herbal mixtures from loose stalls also carry quality problems: unknown ingredients, dust, and occasionally contamination. If a remedy seller gives you a powder and can’t tell you exactly what’s in it, don’t take it.

For a sore throat or cough, safer food-based comfort is covered in our honey, ginger and black pepper guide.

Storing pipli

Whole spikes in a sealed glass jar, in a cool dark cupboard, keep good pungency for about a year. Put the jar in the freezer for 48 hours when you first bring it home if you’re worried about insect eggs, then let it warm back up on the counter before you unscrew the lid, which stops moisture condensing inside. Ground pipli loses aroma within weeks.

Browse more pantry notes in Desi Remedies, or compare with its milder relatives in our safed mirch guide.