Teja, Kashmiri or Shahi Patna: How to Pick from the Sunder Mirch Shelf
A practical shelf guide to Sunder Red Chilli Powder, Kashmiri Mirchi and Shahi Patna Mirch Powder: which pack to buy, for which pot, at what price.
You are standing in front of the shelf
We already have a short piece on Kashmiri versus Teja, and the short version of it holds: one for colour, one for heat. This is the next question, the one you actually face in a shop or on a screen. There is a third pack sitting between them, the prices are not close, and you cooked rajma twice last week and are about to do it again. So which one goes in the bag?
The price gap is real, so use it
Here is how the three look at 100g on the current list. Red Chilli Powder is ₹56. Shahi Patna Mirch Powder is ₹62. Kashmiri Mirchi is ₹140. Kashmiri also tops out at a 100g pack, while Red Chilli Powder goes up to a kilo at ₹552. I am not going to tell you why one costs what it costs, since the price list does not say and I would only be guessing. What it does tell you is how to shop. Kashmiri is the pack you spoon out with some thought, for dishes where people will look at the colour before they taste anything. Red Chilli Powder is the one you can use without doing sums.
What each pack actually contains
Read the ingredient lines, which are short. Red Chilli Powder is Teja chillies. Shahi Patna Mirch Powder is Teja chillies and Kashmiri chillies. Kashmiri Mirchi is listed as red chillies, described as colour-first with mild heat. That is the entire menu, and it also clears up the one misunderstanding I would expect. Whatever the word Patna suggests to you, on this shelf it is the name of a blend, and the ingredient line is what tells you what you are buying.
Red Chilli Powder: when heat is the job
Buy this if you cook daily, your family eats reasonably hot, and colour is a nice extra. Bhindi and everyday dal do well with it, as does anything else where nobody will photograph the bowl. It is the efficient choice too, because a little of it covers a lot of pot. The trap is using it to get a red gravy. You keep adding, the colour creeps up a little, and meanwhile the heat has already left the building and is heading for your guests. If you want a dark red dish, this pack alone is going to make you pay for it.
Kashmiri Mirchi: when the eye eats first
Our rogan josh uses two tablespoons of it for four people, and our paneer butter masala takes one and a half teaspoons. Try those quantities with Teja and you will have an emergency on your hands. It is the one to reach for when children are eating, or a grandparent has asked for less heat and more colour. One honest warning: mild is a relative word. Published figures put Kashmiri chilli around 1,000 to 2,000 Scoville units, while consumer testing of two packaged powders reported far higher numbers. Our catalogue describes ours as gentle, but taste as you go before you use a whole spoon for someone sensitive.
Shahi Patna: when you want one pack to do both
This is the pack for the cook with one chilli dabba and no interest in blending. It suits the weeknight gravy, such as rajma or chicken or a tomato-onion masala, where you want a respectable colour and a proper kick from the same spoon. Being a blend, it takes one decision away from you, and it also takes away some control. I would treat its heat as somewhere between the other two, since we have no number to quote, and go easy the first time, using perhaps half of what you would normally add from your old pack.
Why not blend at home?
You can, and many cooks do. Buy Red Chilli Powder and Kashmiri Mirchi and you can change the proportion to suit each dish, more Kashmiri for a Sunday gravy and more Teja for the Wednesday one meant for two adults only. The downside is another pack on the shelf and a few more rupees spent on Kashmiri. If you cook a lot of different gravies, I think the two-pack setup is worth having. If you make the same six things every week, as most of us do, Shahi Patna at ₹62 for 100g is less fuss.
What I would do with no prior loyalty
Start small on all fronts. Red Chilli Powder and Kashmiri Mirchi both come as ₹10 sachets, and Shahi Patna starts at the 100g pack. For someone on a tight budget who only wants the heat, Express Teja Mirch Powder at ₹45 for 100g is on the shelf too, with sachets at ₹5 and ₹10. And for the person who enjoys suffering, there is Kuti Teja Mirch Powder, 50g for ₹28, which I would keep away from the rajma and save for the chutney.