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India’s ‘Ghost Pepper’ Chilli Is so Hot Villagers Use it to Repel Elephants. Will Britain Be Able to Handle It?
South China Morning Post ^ | 0pm, 16 Sep, 2021 | Kalpana Sunder

Posted on 10/05/2021 1:57:16 PM PDT by nickcarraway

India’s hottest chilli, the bhut jolokia, is 400 times hotter than Tabasco sauce and can induce breathing difficulties in diners. In 2007, it was declared the spiciest chilli in the world, a title it held for four years. In July it was exported to Britain for the first time.

Its heat is so ferocious that Indian villagers use it to keep wild elephants away by smearing it across walls and fences. Bhut jolokia has even been used by the Indian military in smoke grenades, and in pepper sprays for self-defence. It was the first pepper to reach 1 million units on the Scoville scale, which measures a chilli’s pungency, although it has since been surpassed by the Carolina Reaper and the Trinidad Moruga Scorpion.

Bhut jolokia, which means Bhutanese pepper, is also known as the “ghost pepper”, Naga chilli or Raja Mircha. Grown mainly in the states of Assam, Nagaland and Manipur, it has a distinctive, pungent smell and has been used in meat dishes for centuries.

(Excerpt) Read more at scmp.com ...


TOPICS: Food; Gardening; Weird Stuff
KEYWORDS: chile; cookery; food; ghostpepper; india; unitedkingdom
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To: moovova

Me too.

That’s why I don’t try to eat elephants.


41 posted on 10/05/2021 5:53:43 PM PDT by blueunicorn6 ("A crack shot and a good dancer”)
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To: nickcarraway

Does Britain have an elephant problem?


42 posted on 10/05/2021 6:01:56 PM PDT by CodeToad (Arm up! They Have!)
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To: gundog

Interesting about parrot food...

Ramen noodles...Agreed—but I also have some rice, etc...not talking 25-year storage...Just stocking up a bit ;)

Mice have been in my garden past several weeks :(


43 posted on 10/05/2021 6:05:51 PM PDT by Freedom56v2 (It's not the job of the unvaxxed to protect the vaxxed. That's the job of the "vaccine.")
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To: nickcarraway
They are delicious.

That they are. Then again, so are Trinidad scorpions and Pepper X's... I have sauces from all three.

44 posted on 10/05/2021 6:10:37 PM PDT by Dead Corpse (A Psalm in napalm...)
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To: nickcarraway
I like spicy food, and think jalapeños are tasty and not anything excessive, although when I eat Indian food I have my limits.

Some mention of Indian and Thai cuisine on this thread. But once I stopped at a Peruvian restaurant on I-15 in Utah (which is not there anymore), and ordered a pasta dish on the menu that was portrayed, very accurately, as spicy. It was the spiciest thing I have ever eaten. I can’t remember the name of the type of pepper that was used, but it if anyone knows I would appreciate your mentioning it, because I would like to buy it to use it, in much smaller amounts, in my own cooking.

45 posted on 10/05/2021 6:19:44 PM PDT by untenured
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To: nickcarraway

I have been growing Ghost, Reapers, Scorpions, and Habaneros, for many years. Although they are extremely hot, they are also delicious as a sauce, flake, or powder.


46 posted on 10/05/2021 6:33:27 PM PDT by Labyrinthos
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To: nickcarraway

This year’s crop in the Northeast has been remarkable.


47 posted on 10/05/2021 6:34:52 PM PDT by Labyrinthos
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To: LesbianThespianGymnasticMidget
One of my favorite Thai restaurants in the San Diego area is Siamese Basil in Encinitas. The green curry with chicken over brown rice is excellent. Pools of chile oil form on the top of the coconut milk based sauce. The green chiles are cooked tender so they just squish in your mouth. They have small dishes with chopped Thai bird chiles in brine for a salty add-on and some red peppers in vinegar for a more acidic heat. A small shaker of a finely ground brown pepper is usually in the mix. That stuff just makes your tongue numb.

I live in the Pocatello, Idaho area now. The lady that runs the Thai Paradise restaurant downtown makes a seriously spicy green curry. I stop at a "3" on her scale. More is painful. The Thai Kitchen is a good spot too. As for "Thai hot" to turn up the fire.

48 posted on 10/05/2021 6:36:55 PM PDT by Myrddin
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To: Freedom56v2

Even two years might be a stretch for ramen. I’ve heard that brown rice will turn rancid, too, but never had a problem. Got a BB gun? Popping mice might be fun. Easy enough to trap, though.


49 posted on 10/05/2021 6:37:20 PM PDT by gundog (It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. )
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To: Fiji Hill
Light of Asia in Aberystwyth makes a fine lamb vindaloo. I had the lamb korma for the first time in Carmarthen. I don't have the name or address, but I could find the place again if I was in town. My last visit to Wales was in April 1999. My goal on the next visit would be to speak only Welsh for a week. I might have to fall back to English in places because not everyone speaks Welsh there. A bucket list item.
50 posted on 10/05/2021 6:43:14 PM PDT by Myrddin
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To: 2nd Amendment
I'm envious. I have some upstairs and I haven't had dinner yet. Scorpion pepper sauce in the middle of a hard boiled egg is an option as I have an open package of eggs.
51 posted on 10/05/2021 6:45:49 PM PDT by Myrddin
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To: Little Ray

Serranos are about my limit for eating fresh peppers these days. I’ll use hotter chiles, such as chiltepin or chile pequin, for cooking, but sparingly. I like to be able to feel some heat in most dishes, but not to the point of pain.

I haven’t run across peri peri yet.


52 posted on 10/05/2021 6:48:57 PM PDT by HartleyMBaldwin
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To: gundog

LOL would sling shot do?


53 posted on 10/05/2021 7:06:17 PM PDT by Freedom56v2 (It's not the job of the unvaxxed to protect the vaxxed. That's the job of the "vaccine.")
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To: Freedom56v2

Probably just frustrating. I consider an air rifle and ammo essential to prepping.


54 posted on 10/05/2021 7:10:06 PM PDT by gundog (It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. )
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To: Myrddin

Dont forget the fermented fish sauces.

Makes me wonder what the Roman Empire’s Garum was like.

Some of those sauces smell so vile that a whiff is enough to make a vulture wretch, but just a little bit and the umame flavor explodes.

The Vietnamese have one that is particularly rank called Maam Nem. 2/3rds of the bottle is light brown gelled fish precipitate.


55 posted on 10/05/2021 7:15:49 PM PDT by LesbianThespianGymnasticMidget
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To: nickcarraway

I saw ghost peppers in Jungle Jim’s in Cincinnati years ago.


56 posted on 10/05/2021 7:58:44 PM PDT by mfish13 (Elections have Consequences.)
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To: Myrddin

While habaneros are fairly hot, I find them bitter.

Bulgarian, or Hungarian hot wax are much better flavours, but sometimes need a kick to get them going


57 posted on 10/05/2021 8:51:20 PM PDT by Don W (When blacks riot, neighbourhoods and cities burn. When whites riot, nations and continents burn.)
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To: Don W

Habaneros fresh off the bush have a nice fruity flavor with heat that follows. Perhaps they get bitter after picking and sitting on the shelf. A poblano filled with jack cheese and baked is hard to beat for flavor.


58 posted on 10/05/2021 10:52:24 PM PDT by Myrddin
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To: LesbianThespianGymnasticMidget

The fish sauce is important for Vietnamese dishes. We make a large pot of phò with all fresh ingredients. It’s worth the effort. I miss Bolsa in Mira Mesa. I went there for over 20 years.


59 posted on 10/05/2021 10:57:07 PM PDT by Myrddin
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To: Freedom56v2; gundog
Interesting about parrot food...

Birds aren't affected at all by Capsaicin, the chemical that makes hot peppers hot. Birds eat the peppers then spread the seeds as they poop them out. Before humans started growing them and spreading them around the world birds were the main transport.

As for using it as a rodent repellent, this man tried experimenting with capsaicin. Ordinary hot peppers didn't work but pure capsaicin crystals did. Unfortunately that would be a very expensive solution.

60 posted on 10/05/2021 11:24:03 PM PDT by Oshkalaboomboom
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