0218-1550 TCXAurora Red

Kashmiri Red Chilli

A chilli bought for its pigment, not its heat. At 1,000–2,000 SHU it is among the mildest chillies in commercial trade, yet it stains a dish a deep, even red that no colourant reproduces honestly.

54.10

ASTA colour, at 2,000 SHU

Botanical name: Capsicum annuum
Known as: Kashmiri Lal Mirchकश्मीरी लाल मिर्च
Origin: Kashmir Valley, Himachal Pradesh
Harvest: September – November

Close crop of dried red chillies showing wrinkled skin

The story

Origin33°44′ N

AnantnagJammu & Kashmir

Jammu & Kashmir75°09′ E

Almost every red curry photographed in India owes its colour to this pod. Kashmiri chilli gives a dark red colour and flavour to food while keeping the dish from turning pungent — which is precisely the problem it was selected to solve.

The numbers explain the preference. Pungency sits at 1,000–2,000 Scoville Heat Units, with capsaicin measured at 0.325%. Against that, the ASTA colour value reads 54.10. The ratio of colour to heat is the whole commercial argument.

The dried pod is wrinkled and rough, often browning on the outside when traditionally long-dried, but the pigment underneath stays densely concentrated. It is the chilli behind tandoori preparations, biryani, pickles and chutneys — anywhere the red has to read as red.

[ Why here ]

AnantnagJammu & Kashmir

High-altitude ripening under cold nights and bright, thin daylight. Slow maturation builds pigment in the pericarp while capsaicin stays low — the inverse of what a hot-plains chilli does.

Specification

Measured