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The World's Hottest Chili

by Rama Kumaraswamy Thoopal: Illustration by Shiju George

Do you like your chilies hot? For the spiciest, tongue-burning experience yet, head for Assam - that's where the hottest chilies are grown.

For years, Mexico's 'Red Savina Habanero' was believed to be the hottest chili in the world. But now a chili grown in Tezpur, Assam, in northeastern India, is being touted as the hottest chili ever. And coming from a state, which is better known for its tea than its chilies, this discovery has caused quite a stir.

The 'hotness' of chilies comes from the compound called capsaicin located in the white tissue, which holds the seeds. When you stir fry chilies this compound is released and can take your breath away. Scraping away the tissue and removing the seeds reduces the hot flavour of chilies.

The Tezpur chili is nearly 50 per cent spicier than the Mexican chili as it has the highest Scoville units of pure capsaicin. The Scoville scale is named after German scientist, Wilbur Scoville, who was the first to measure the heat component in chilies. The Indian chili was discovered to contain 855,000 Scoville units vis-ŕ-vis the Mexican chili, which contains only 557,000 Scoville units of pure capsaicin.

Chilies belong to the Solanaceae family, as do potatoes, tomatoes and eggplants. Chilies were first cultivated in Peru and Bolivia over 7000 years ago and were widely grown in Central and South America. The Spanish explorer, Christopher Columbus, took some chilies back to Spain in 1493. He though they were black pepper, and his mistake resulted in chilies being dubbed 'chili peppers'.

Did you know that chilies are addictive? That is because it increases the production of endorphins (the body's natural pain-relieving hormones), which in turn produce a feeling of well-being. The burning feeling on your tongue (due to the capsaicin) causes messages to be sent to your brain, to release endorphins. The endorphins thus released give you some relief.

Fresh chilies have twice the amount of Vitamin C found in citrus fruits. When dried, the Vitamin A content increases as much as one hundred fold. Hot chilies (like the Habanero variety) contain about 357 per cent more Vitamin C than oranges. Chili is mildly antibacterial and is an excellent gargle for sore throats and laryngitis. In Victorian England, chili peppers were prized for their warming properties in treating arthritis, chills, rheumatism, sprains and depression.

India is the biggest exporter of chilies - the most popular drug-herb - in the world today. It is estimated that about 80 per cent of people ensure chilies are a regular part of their diet.

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