The bhut jolokia (ghost pepper) is no longer the hottest chilli in the world, but as India's spiciest export, it packs quite a punch. Interestingly, the chilli that's native to Assam and Nagaland is being used across Mumbai restaurants, served to customers in varied avatars.
We ate at our own risk to bring you this taste-and-heat ranking.
Packs a punch
PICO's Bhut Jolokia hot sauce
Chef Nicole Gonsalves spent nine months playing with the chilli, before he swore off it. "I have had enough," she says. Gonsalves can't be blamed. She created 30 sauces before making the perfect one, but not before she and her team protected themselves with face masks, boiler suits and gloves when cooking. "I had backups to beat the heat ready all along. Water, honey, milk, sugar and jaggery, but nothing worked," she says.
What did? Coke.
Gonsalves is the corporate chef at PICO. The sauce she and her team invented is made using bhut jolokia from Nagaland, yet another chilli, some garlic and seasoning. "The flavour is very powerful and can hold its own when mixed with anything," she says. Its delicious garlic flavour makes it a good dip.
Gonsalves suggests using it as a marinade to flavour meats or adding a few drops of it to yoghurt, mayonnaise or cheese dip. Tipplers can use it in a Bloody Mary instead of Tabasco. At an event conducted by Pico in the first month after the sauce's launch, a customer came over to Gonsalves with a complaint. "He said his mother had stopped cooking. All she did was add the sauce to everything."
Best eaten with: Chips and nachos FOUND AT: Pico Express outlets, Nature's Basket, Hypercity
Tear inducing
Bhut Jolokia pickle at Imbiss
The world's spiciest chilli is mentioned innocuously in a corner of the Imbiss menu, under 'Extras'. Eat it plain, and it will make your eyes water, nose run and leave you looking for a hose to stuff into your mouth. But it gets easier with successive bites; you taste the oil, the slight syrupy sweetness of the sugar, and the smoky flavour of the chilli.
"This pickle is good as an addon," says the Colaba meat haven's owner Peter Mawiong, who thinks it "does a better job than most chillies". He even grows it in his garden but confesses it "doesn't have the same bite" as those from Shillong. The pickle is made with fresh or dried chillies, mustard oil, a hint of sugar and lots of seasoning. It's then left in the sun for a few days.
The best way to eat it is to dab your morsel into it. The restaurant's beef jerky also uses the chilli in coarse powder form, making for a hot and dry dish, best enjoyed with beer.
Imbiss gets regulars who dare each other to finish a whole portion. Coming up: a Man versus Food-style competition involving the chilli.
Best eaten with:Schnitzel, toasted bread or fries
Found at: Imbiss Meating Joint at 4th Pasta Lane, Colaba, and Waroda Road, Bandra
Leaves you gasping
Manipuri cuisine at Kind Chilli
King chilli will blow your mind," says Worsem Zimik, operations incharge at 'Chindian Fusion' restaurant King Chilli.
Zimik and co-partner Hanmi Ningshen are from Manipur, which means they must lug back a bagful of bhut jolokia each time they go home. In Manipur, it's eaten raw, used in most dishes, and believed to cure everything from gastric problems to weak eyesight. "You can eat it without it upsetting your stomach," says Ningshen. The fresh chillies are available between July and January, lasting a week to a month depending on the weather. The dried version — sun dried or roasted on a charcoal fire — last up to two years.
At King Chilli, they smash the dried chilli into a paste before drizzling it into dishes. The spiciest of these, are surprisingly, the salads. Yong zak, named after a green nut-like vegetable used, is a salad made with onions, chopped chicken, seasoning and king chilli. The combination of raw onions and chilli make for a powerful explosion of flavour and heat. The vegetable has a fresh, garlic-like taste that lingers long after the heat has seared your mouth. The haresa khamanak is a salad made with boiled chicken and chilli. Mayang pai manak is a slightly salty potato mash with chunky pieces of fermented river fish, and shiitake mushrooms that give it a meaty flavour to help cut the spice. "Some of our customers also ask for the raw chilli," says Zimik, adding that putting a sliver of it on the tongue helps your taste buds get used to it before you dig into a dish made with it.
Best eaten with:Boiled vegetables and plain salad
Found at: King Chilli, near Kalina Masjid, Kalina Kurla Road
Easy to handle with Nikhil Merchant's Bhut Jolokia freezeable sauce
If invited to food blogger Nikhil Merchant's Andheri home for a meal, be warned. He is most likely to serve you a bhut jolokiainfused vodka cocktail. But if you like a bit of spice in your drink, you'll love the after-kick. Merchant started experimenting with the chilli after buying a box of it on a whim. He first turned it into a sauce, and later played with vodka infusions. One chilli in a litre of vodka gives him three years worth of fire kick, despite the fact that he refills the bottle a gazillion times. For the dinner table, Merchant has used the chilli in a Mexican sauce and even sprinkled shreds in a mango pickle. "One mm of chilli is enough to flavour a whole pot of sauce that can last eight servings," he says. Merchant likes the stout chilli for the heat it provides without overwhelming the dish. His freezeable sauce is made by slowcooking the chilli with onions, garlic, butter, olive oil, thyme, vegetable stock, tomato puree and brown sugar. Light and flavourful, it can even be licked plain but goes best with his home-made quesadillas.
Best eaten with: Quesadillas, pasta
Found at: nonchalantgourmand.com
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