Timut pepper — also called timur pepper — is a spice that is native to the Himalayan region. The botanical name of the timut pepper plant is Zanthoxylum alatum, and its fruit is a small berry with a reddish-brown color. Timut pepper berries are dried before use and tend to split open to reveal small black seeds. The timut pepper is closely related to China’s Sichuan peppercorn, Japan’s sansho pepper, and Thailand’s makhwaen. Timut pepper has many of the same properties as Sichuan and sansho peppers and makhwaen. Timut pepper is unrelated to true black peppercorns, and it’s also not a chili. Other names for timut pepper include toothache tree and prickly ash.
Timut pepper is a special Nepalese spice plant. Its nicknames are Nepalese Szechuan pepper or grapefruit pepper, as the peels taste and smell of citrus fruits. Timur pepper grows at 1500 – 2500m in different regions of Nepal.
In 2018, the BBC listed timut pepper – a zesty, grapefruit-like spice hailing from Nepal – as an on-trend ingredient to make condiments and give alcoholic beverages like a gin and tonic for an extra kick.