Indian cooking uses dozens of chilli varieties, but two names come up constantly when people are choosing a chilli powder: Guntur and Kashmiri. They're often treated as interchangeable, but they're suited to almost opposite purposes.

Guntur chilli: built for heat

Grown primarily in Andhra Pradesh, Guntur chilli is one of India's spiciest commercially grown varieties, with a Scoville rating that can run significantly higher than most other Indian chillies. It has a deep red colour but a comparatively thinner skin, which means the heat comes through strongly while the colour contribution to a dish is moderate. It's the right choice when a recipe needs real heat — pickles, spicy curries, chutneys — without the dish turning an unnaturally deep red.

Kashmiri chilli: built for colour

Kashmiri chilli, grown in Jammu & Kashmir, is known for the opposite trade-off: mild heat but an intensely vivid red colour, thanks to a thicker skin with a higher concentration of natural pigment. It's the standard choice in dishes like butter chicken, tandoori marinades, or any recipe where a rich red colour matters more than spice level.

Using them together

Many home cooks and restaurant kitchens actually blend the two — Kashmiri chilli for colour, Guntur (or another hot variety) for the heat — rather than relying on a single chilli powder to do both jobs, since no single variety naturally delivers maximum colour and maximum heat at once.

What to check when buying

Colour intensity out of the pack is a reasonable first indicator, but it can also come from added colour agents in poor-quality blends. Aroma is a better test — real Guntur chilli has a sharp, pungent smell, while Kashmiri chilli smells noticeably milder and slightly sweet. If a "Kashmiri" chilli powder smells sharply pungent, it's worth questioning whether it's genuinely the Kashmiri variety.