Raisins — kishmish in Hindi — are dried grapes. In the Indian trade they are named by colour, shape (long or round) and whether they have seeds. Most Indian raisins are made from seedless green grapes of the Thompson Seedless family (local selections such as Sonaka, Manik Chaman and Tas-A-Ganesh), grown mainly in north Karnataka and south-west Maharashtra.
Green raisins
The everyday Indian kishmish. Green raisins are dried in the shade, which keeps a light green to golden-green colour. Long green raisins come from long-berried grapes; round green raisins from round-berried ones. Sunder Khani (also written Sundekhani) is a premium long, seedless type with a delicate golden-green colour.
Golden and yellow raisins
Bright golden or yellow lots, round or long. They look premium in gift boxes, open dry-fruit trays and mithai. Some golden and yellow lots are treated during processing to hold their colour — if that matters for your market, ask the supplier how a lot was processed.
Brown raisins and Malayar
Sun drying darkens raisins to light or deep brown. Brown raisins are an economical choice for cooking, bakery and value packs. Malayar raisins are small, uniform, brownish lots usually traded in A / AA / AAA grades for confectioners and processors.
Black raisins
Made from black grapes. Black seedless raisins are popular for snacking and soaking. Kali Manukka are black raisins with seeds and a deeper, musky taste.
Munakka and Kandhari
Munakka are large, soft, seeded raisins — thicker and juicier than kishmish — used traditionally and for gifting. Kandhari raisins are a reddish, tart-sweet Kandahar-type raisin; in India they are mostly imported and sourced on request.
Industrial / bakery grade
Cleaned, mixed-colour and mixed-size lots for bakeries, cereal makers and food processors, where appearance matters less than price.
Which type should you buy?
| Use | Usually chosen |
|---|---|
| Gift boxes, premium retail | Golden round, yellow round, Sunder Khani |
| Everyday retail, sweets, kheer | Green long, green round |
| Bakery, cereal, processing | Brown, Malayar, bakery grade |
| Snacking, soaking | Black seedless, Kali Manukka, Munakka |
See photos and details of all 14 raisin varieties VISAVA supplies, or read how raisins are graded.
- Wikipedia — Raisin
- The Hindu — raisin processing in Vijayapura, Karnataka
- For food-safety rules, follow FSSAI in India and your destination country’s import rules for export.