Kashmiri red chilli

Kashmiri red chilli is the dried ripe fruit pod of Capsicum annuum, a member of the nightshade family Solanaceae. It’s grown as a speciality pepper in cold and temperate hill regions and used in Indian cooking for colour and gentle warmth.

You’ll find it sold as whole dried pods, commercially dried and finely pulverised into a bright crimson powder, or as whole pods that are rehydrated and ground into a smooth, intensely red paste.

It gives an earthy aroma with a subtly sweet, fruity background from sun drying. When toasted in hot oil it shows a mild smoky note and imparts a gentle, mellow warmth rather than sharp heat, at about 1,000–2,000 Scoville units.

Use it at tadka — whole or powdered Kashmiri chilli goes into hot oil or ghee to release pigment and colour the fat. Mix ground Kashmiri chilli with yogurt, mustard oil and spices as the main colouring agent for marinades for grilled meats and paneer.

During sauce-making add the powder with onions, ginger, garlic and tomatoes to build a rich red gravy. It’s indispensable in Kashmiri Wazwan dishes like Rogan Josh for that signature red, and it’s the natural colourant in tandoori marinades, butter chicken and paneer tikka.

Chilli peppers originated in Central and South America and were introduced to the Indian subcontinent by Portuguese traders in the late 15th to 16th century. The Kashmir Valley in Jammu and Kashmir is the traditional cold-climate growing region for this speciality pepper, and Himachal Pradesh also cultivates Kashmiri-type varieties across temperate hill zones.

Kashmiri red chillies are rich in natural carotenoid pigments, primarily capsanthin and capsorubin, and contain provitamin A and vitamin C.