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| The Unripe Pepper [Courtesy: Wikipedia] |
So you know that I am an Indian and therefore, I have an above average tolerance for hot and spicy food. I absolutely love my spice for that matter. However, when a horticulturist friend of mine from Assam sent me the infamous Naga Marich peppers I was in for the ride of my life. Initially painful but eventually once tamed, very worthwhile.
Now for those of you who don't know, Bhut Jolokia or Naga Marich (perhaps more popular with the misnomer Ghost Pepper outside the Indian subcontinent) is the world's hottest chilli. A Scoville Score of 855,000 units is no joke. It is in fact so hot, that a small bite from this chilli would make your eyes water and give you a runny nose for no less than 5 hours. Need I elaborate the pain your mouth would be suffering from?
Anyway, getting on with it. I had a dozen dried bhut jolokia with me and I couldn't wait to try them out. Glove in hand (as directed and warned vehemently by her) I decided to try to make my spicy masala chicken curry. I often douse that home-y chicken with an insane amount of spice. It tastes brilliant no matter which rendition is being used. So I figured why not try it there.
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| Ripe Fruit and The Dried Ones |
Alas, poor me. I was not prepared for this. I used just one whole chilli. This is in lieu of the 5 traditional savena habaneros I use normally. Should have been safe but it wasn't.
And every bite of that night's chicken was painful. My mouth, eyes, nose... well you know the drill by now. The bottom-line is do not use the chilli directly in any food you normally prepare. It is just going to end up as an inedible mess.
Then how do we use this potent weapon-worthy food item?
Well, I made two things out of it finally, that seem quite useful and eventually worth the trouble.
The first one is a well-tempered super hot sauce that you can use for all purposes where a hot sauce is called for and the second is a spicy vodka mix that would be just perfect for a more spicy Bloody Mary.
So let's get on with it.
For the Sauce
No more than a pinch of bhut jolokia (I took a dried whole chilli, ground it and used a tiny bit... glove on throughout the process)
3 habaneros (washed and de-stemmed)
1 cup finely chopped onion
2 Cloves of garlic
2 tablespoon of vegetable oil
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional. I put it to balance the spice out)
1/4 cup white vinegar
1/3 cup water
a pinch of salt, sugar & black pepper
1. Blend all the ingredients except water together until smooth.
2. Now add the blend to a sauce pan, add the water and bring to a boil.
3. Reduce the heat and simmer for approximately 15 minutes.
That's it, your sauce is ready to be used. Goes great with fried chicken wings. I mixed it with mayonnaise for a great sauce.
Now for the Chilli Vodka :
1 litre Vodka (I used the bottle of unflavoured Romanov at hand)
1 whole bhut jolokia chilli
1 whole cherry pepper (chopped)
1/2 cup bell pepper (chopped)
A sprig of mint (optional. I use it for the added flavour zing!)
1. Pack the bottle of vodka with the ingredients.
2. Allow it to steep for a day or two.
3. Be sure to check the spice before you serve this as the longer you steep, the spicier the vodka would get.
4. Once the desired hotness has been reached, discard the chilli, and store the vodka in a fresh glass bottle.
5. Your spiced vodka is now ready to be used for the next party.