The fiery flavours of stem pepper

Chui or Piper chaba grows profusely in West Bengal and Bangladesh and belongs to the same genus as the historically and economically important Piper nigrum or black pepper. However, unlike black pepper — where the dried fruit is used — in the case of chui, the stems and roots impart the flavour. In India, the use of this novel spice is restricted to a few pockets in West Bengal. “This is one of the least researched of the pepper species and we do not have much information about it,” Sandeep Sen said. This makes it difficult to understand how a changing environment is affecting this species.