Cheeky Chili

Four Indian scientists have discovered that a type of chili pepper grown in the country’s northeast has one of the highest Scoville units of pure capsaicin — a measure of hotness.

This chilli pepper is called the Tezpur chili pepper, after the area where it is grown; scientists say the pepper has beaten Mexico’s Red Savina Habanero, widely acclaimed as the hottest chili pepper in the world.

The Tezpur chilli was rated having 855,000 Scoville units whereas the Mexican chilli contains 557,000 Scoville units of pure capsaicin. This chilli pepper is however not the hottest as that to date is still the Dorset Naga with a Scoville reading of 923,000.

Tezpur lies on the banks of the river Brahmaputra about 112 miles from Guwahati, the main city of Assam, which is better known for its flavoursome tea than its chili peppers.

India is one of the world’s top producers of chili peppers, exporting an estimated 35 tonnes a year.

In the City of Havelock they have just celebrated their 29^th annual festival.

More than 20,000 people consumed gallons and gallons of chili at the North Carolina State Chili Festival in Havelock.

On Saturday, attendees could buy small cups of chili for $1 from each of 15 different stations, offering everyone a variety from mild to the extremely hot.

Whether it’s green chili or red; spicy or mild, they’ve got you covered.

The event gets bigger every year, last year they ran out of chili, they don’t want that to happen again.

The competition is friendly but for most a secret ingredient is just that.

A red hot event keeping folks in the east coming back for more.

A farmer air-dries the harvested chili pepper in Neihuang County, central China’s Henan Province, Oct. 16, 2010. As the harvest season comes to an end this year, farmers were busy reaping the harvest of their hard work on the World Food Day on Saturday.

A whole load of chili's

Hi guys and gals

Just wanted to share this fabulous Thai Red Curry recipe with you which we tried this weekend and will definately be on my list to try again.  Don’t be afraid to change any of the veg if there is something you don’t like and you can always change the butternut squash to new potatoes if you prefer.  Enjoy!!!

Thai Red Curry

1 tbsp vegtable or sunflower oil

3-4 tbsp red curry paste

400ml coconut milk

1 can of bamboo shoots, rinsed and drained

300g butternut squash , cubed

1 red pepper sliced

150g green beans

12 button mushrooms , halved

250g cherry tomatoes

4 boneless and skinless chicken thighs cut into cubes or 4 chicken breasts

2 tbsp fish sauce

To Garnish

handful coriander

1 red chili sliced

Method

Heat 1 tbsp oil in a wok or large saucepan and fry 3-4 tbsp curry paste (depending on how hot you want the curry to be) for a minute until fragrant. Add the coconut milk and fish sauce, stir well and bring to a simmer.

Add the butternut squash and cook for about 10 minutes until it is almost tender, add the rest of the veg and thin the sauce with a little water if you need to. Simmer for 5 minutes.

For the veggies, transfer half the curry to another pan. For the non-veggies, add the chicken to the remaining half. Simmer for 3-5 minutes until the chicken.

Serve both curries with the coriander and chili sprinkled over and steamed jasmine rice.

“The aroma of good chili should generate rapture akin to a lover’s kiss.” – Motto of the Chili Appreciation Society International