Puya Chilies
Puya chilies, are long, thin, dried, red hot mirasol chili peppers (part of the highly variable species Capsicum annuum). Very similar to guajillo chilies (but thinner and hotter), puyas contribute a sharp, fruity, somewhat tangy flavour to dishes along with an appreciable moderately high level of heat. They’re a relativelyĀ common and popular pepper in Mexican cooking, though they tend not to be as quite well-known/used outside of Mexico. PuyasĀ are spicier than many of the other common ‘all-purpose’ chilies, though not nearly as spicy as the well-known arbol chili.
Puya are generally available whole (as shown in the picture), and ground or crushed, though it is difficult to find crushed puyasĀ that have specifically been labeled as such.
Puya is sometimes spelled pulla. Puya peppers are also used in some Chinese cooking, where they’re called jinta peppers (éå”ę¤).
Scoville Heat Units
5,000-8,000 (moderately high)