Topic: Kashmiri chillies

[livo]

Government of India
Ministry of Agriculture
Directorate of Marketing and Inspection
Post Harvest Profile 2009

Major Commercial Varieties by Zone

North Zone #9 Jammu and Kashmir

NP-46-A
Ratna Red
California Wonder

(The Government of India should not be regarded as assuming responsibility for any
of the statements contained in this profile.)
https://agmarknet.gov.in/Others/preface-chhilli.pdf


Some more interesting reading:

"There is a misconception among people outside Kashmir that Kashmiri chillies are less spicy and are mostly used to impart colour. In reality, it is quite the opposite. Kashmir chillies are used for their spiciness while the other varieties like the Shimla , Punjabi and the Pepsi (name given because the shape of the chilli which usually is imported from Rajasthan resembles a Pepsi bottle) are the ones that are used for their colour

[Peripatetic Phil]

Some more interesting reading:

"There is a misconception among people outside Kashmir that Kashmiri chillies are less spicy and are mostly used to impart colour. In reality, it is quite the opposite. Kashmir chillies are used for their spiciness while the other varieties like the Shimla , Punjabi and the Pepsi (name given because the shape of the chilli which usually is imported from Rajasthan resembles a Pepsi bottle) are the ones that are used for their colour

[Onions]

I've always used Kashmiri chilli for its smokey favour rather than any brain-boiling heat.

[livo]

This is the dilemma.  There are the 2 opposing sides to the descriptions offered and there is an abundance of both, much of which is word for word parroted among the different sources. 

On the one hand Kashmiri Chilli is claimed to be not spicey and used for colour. On the other is the claim that chilli grown in Kashmir is spicy and the products sold as Kashmiri Chilli Powder and whole dried Kashmiri Chilli are not actually from Kashmir at all, but are most likely Byadagi / Byadgi / Beggi and even more likely (as with most powders at least) a blend of chillis sourced from multiple regions.

I doubt we will ever really know.  I will send and email to my local spice merchant and leading authority, Ian from Herbie's. It will be interesting to see what he has to say about it.  I have researched the actual types (cultivars) of chillis grown in India including Geographical Indication listings, the ratings in Schoville, Percentage Capsaicine and ASTA Colour value.

From the Spices Board of India (Gov't of India):

Byadagi (Kaddi)
ASTA Colour Value 159.9
Capsaicine - Negligable

Kashmiri
ASTA Colour Value 54.10
Capsaicine - 0.325%

This would indicate that Kashmiri grown chilli is in fact Spicy and and has a much lower Colour Value.

https://www.indianspices.com/spice-catalog/chilli-1.html

[Garp]

How are the chillies doing Livo?

[livo]

Mixed results Garp. Basically ok but there have been some big blows along the way.

It's been a very humid, wet and cloudy summer with la Nina weather pattern. Fungus problems as well as pests, in particular Pepper maggot fly, which have mainly hit the capsicum, but also a few chillis.

Then I've had to contend with critters. It seems that the Satin Bower Bird likes ripe chillis. I've caught them raiding a few times.  Then at night the possums and rats come. I started moving the plants with ripening pods into my shed overnight. One morning 40 ripe and green  pods were destroyed inside the shed.

I've still had a good supply for myself and I've built up a good collection of seed as well as dried chilli flakes.  This is all from my first 8 plants and I have many more late ones just coming on now.  A few different varieties and I'm learning a lot.

[Garp]

 

[livo]

Here is a pic of my first grown "Kashmiri" Chilli. These pods are a mild chilli and the seeds were bought from a seed supplier / Chilli grower.  I have 2 other types of "Kashmiri" plants growing that have been germinated from seeds sourced in Dried Whole Kashmiri Chillis from India.  It will be interesting to see what they produce.

I'll post other pics in the main Chilli Grow thread.

[Ghoulie]

I bought some dried Kashmiri chillies some time back & experienced a bitter taste to the curry and channa dishes using them - binned. On reading up, this is not the normal taste for this type of chilli, but bitterness in chillies can be down to growing with too little water.
Decided to grow my own - so bought 2 Kashmiri Mirch plants from a UK nursery. Theses arrived in April as 3 inch plants. Come on really well and have harvested  15 chillies so far, dried and ground for future use - more to come.
Hopefully home grown will not have a bitter taste.

[Robbo141]

Good luck ghoulie. This year we’re growing Habanada peppers for the first time.  They’re habanero but with zero heat. So you get all the fruit flavor but doesn’t kill you. I love habanero but they’re hot buggers.  Will report back once harvest starts.
Kashmiri next year if I can find seeds / plants.

Robbo