Kashmiri chilli powder

[chewytikka]

Just an update on the grinding of the Kashmiri chillies.
The grinder I have is a single blade coffee grinder made by Moulinex bought about 20 years ago. (?17)
I chopped off the stalks and broke up each of the dried chillies and ground 3 or 4 at a time for several 20 to 30 second grinds.
Not cooked with the results yet.
Then again I don't know what to expect or compare it too when I do.

Hi James
Is your retro Moulinex in Orange/White, as I've got one and its built like a tank.

These whole Dry Chilles in the pic, were they labeled "Kashmiri", as I'm no expert
but they look like Bangladeshi Dry Whole Chillies, which I have a huge bag of in store.

I've googled Kashmiri Chillies, a few times in the past with confusing results, as to what they actually look like.
Mostly it comes back with a bright/deep red crinkled shape, and one report even
came back with that they actually crinkle as they ripen on the plant.
Then there are other pics of a dried jalapeno size pods, fat, smooth and dark red in colour.

I've been using the Bangladeshi Dry Whole Chillies for years, but I'd really like to know which is what.

Any Chilli experts out there?

cheers Chewy

[Salvador Dhali]

Just an update on the grinding of the Kashmiri chillies.
The grinder I have is a single blade coffee grinder made by Moulinex bought about 20 years ago. (?17)
I chopped off the stalks and broke up each of the dried chillies and ground 3 or 4 at a time for several 20 to 30 second grinds.
Not cooked with the results yet.
Then again I don't know what to expect or compare it too when I do.

Hi James
Is your retro Moulinex in Orange/White, as I've got one and its built like a tank.

These whole Dry Chilles in the pic, were they labeled "Kashmiri", as I'm no expert
but they look like Bangladeshi Dry Whole Chillies, which I have a huge bag of in store.

I've googled Kashmiri Chillies, a few times in the past with confusing results, as to what they actually look like.
Mostly it comes back with a bright/deep red crinkled shape, and one report even
came back with that they actually crinkle as they ripen on the plant.
Then there are other pics of a dried jalapeno size pods, fat, smooth and dark red in colour.

I've been using the Bangladeshi Dry Whole Chillies for years, but I'd really like to know which is what.

Any Chilli experts out there?

cheers Chewy

I wouldn't call myself an expert, but I've been growing chillies for over 30 years, and I regularly buy dried Kashmiri chillies. I've never seen them fresh, but as Chewy says they're definitely crinkled, and a really dark, vibrant red, as in the picture I've just taken below (apart from being labelled as such, you'll know they're Kashmiri chillies as they're bloody expensive!. These came from Akrams in Southsea):

[DalPuri]

Here you go Chewy, definately wrinkled and the bag was labelled kashmiri chillies.
The medium sized egg is for perspective



Cheers, Frank. 




*edit,     SD beat me to it.  Having probs with windows7 and chrome 

[Peripatetic Phil]

Modulo tha stalks (mine still have them attached), identical to the giant bag I brought back from China last year !  As they are useless from a heat perspective, I shall try grinding up and see if they work like Kashmiri chillies for colour ...

** Phil.

[chewytikka]

Thanks Lads
That clears that one up for me, nothing quite like real life experience/advice
and thanks for going to the trouble with the pics.

I'll know what to get, when I'm out and about tomorrow.
cheers Chewy

[Petrolhead360]

Hi all,

thanks for the advice about the wrong powder I purchased.

Anyway, hooray:), I tried 2 stores today and found it!!!
Any one in the Northampton area, Kettering rd (the town centre end)



Kettering road, Northampton.

[Steven Heap]

TIP: Whole Kashmiri chilies can be identified by their wrinkly texture and bright red colour. If you are going to make your own Kasmiri chilie powder from whole, it's worth mentioning that you should de-seed the chilies before grinding. You can always tell when a chili powder has been ground from whole chilies because it is orange in colour (red 'the shell' and white 'the seeds', = orange). The significance of Kashmiri chili powder is that it gives a suitable heat and a deep red colour (which is obviously great for cooking), hence grinding whole Kasmiri chilies defeats the object of their significance.

To remove the seed, simply put them 'whole' into a blender/food processor for a brief moment (1-2 seconds), this with split the shell. Then pour the partially broken chilies onto some brown paper on the floor and pick out the red shells, them discard the white/light brown seeds, and THEN blend the shell only, time consuming but worth it if you can't get hold of the powder locally. Bingo!

[Dajoca]

Cheers Steven.
I've started grinding my own from the dry chillies, as I bought a large bag of Rajah chilli powder recently (avoiding the extra hot one) and it' was miles hotter than any I've bought in the last decade, which was interesting in a OMG sort of way.

[Ghoulie]

I have grown my own Apache & Super Chilli plants and dry the chillis at 50 deg C for 5 hours then grind them whole to a powder.  At 50,000 Scoville rating each - they are perfect for my taste in heat.  A flat teaspoon of powder = 4 whole chillies.  Just a touch on the end of a teaspoon in e.g a poly pot of baked beans gives them a nice buzz.

Great for use in a marinade to do my Ravis Chicken Tikka.

[Secret Santa]

Any one in the Northampton area, Kettering rd (the town centre end)

Used to live there many moons ago. Had to leave after one too many punch ups with the local white trash (I'm white so that's not racist). 

Not a great fan of Kashmiri mirch. It always seems to have an unpleasant bitter flavour to me, even the MDH which isn't so bad as some I've tried. And heat wise it's about a 0.5 out of 10 to me so why bother.

Deggi mirch on the other hand has a vibrant red colour, decent amount of heat (still low though) and a very pleasant flavour. My low-heat chiili powder of choice.

If memory serves I think the MDH Kasmiri mirch is a blend of chillies so it's not really authentic.