Crank up the heat!

Devil’s Curry Chicken looks an angry red and threatens to be ferociously hot. It is. First the heat from the chillies hits the back of the throat with a powerful burning sensation and then engulfs the mouth with a blaze akin to a red hot flame. But concealed in all that heat is a blend of herbs and spices that has made this a South East Asian dish a hotseller.

Devil’s Curry Chicken is exactly that: Devilish. Chuckles Suddha Kukreja, the woman behind Kitchen Café, where she dishes out this South East Asian speciality: “Each portion has some 40gm of dry, whole red chillies as well as 5gm of black pepper.” According to her this must be ‘the’ hottest dish going in Delhi.

Manav Sharma, Kukreja’s partner, says that restaurants across the country are cranking up on the heat factor and are pretty much setting their menus on fire. “The popularity of hot and spicy cuisines is at an all time high. An increasing number of people are ordering dishes with the most intense heat,” he says. Which is why the Devil’s Curry Meter at Kitchen Café is ticking fast and proudly pronouncing that 7,613 portions of the dish have been sold in the last five months.

So, if you like it hot then you can dig into some of the spiciest, hottest and fieriest dishes from across the globe — perhaps at a restaurant closest to you.

Giving Devil’s Curry competition is Mirapakai Kodi or Andhra chicken at Dakshin, the restaurant at Sheraton New Delhi. Tell Chef Kripakaran to pull out all the stops and he will promptly douse one portion of the dish — some 250gm of chicken — with an equal dose (that’s 250gm) of green chillies.

For vegetarians he makes Putta Kokula Masala in which 250gm of mushrooms get treated to 100gm of green chillies and 50gm of red chilli paste. That’s 150gm of ammo in all.

And then one day the chefs at Afraa in Kolkata got into a mood to experiment. Potato wedges went on the burner. Chef Sumanta Chakrabarti threw in some super hot shichimi — a Japanese seven-spice mix in which lurk yellow and red chilli powder — took the wedges out and tossed them with some green chilli sauce. And voila! the menu was on fire.

Now even as you sip your favourite cocktail you can be chewing into a fiery starter of grilled green and red Mexican chillies. For, Chef Sujan Mukherjee of Taj Bengal is tossing up Duet of Asian Chillies stuffed with Pommery Mustard and Cheddar, in which the mustard accentuates the heat. He recommends that you pair it with fruit-based cocktails or mocktails. “The hotness of this starter complements the sweetness of the drink,” he promises.

So here’s raising a toast to the hottest fare you can treat your tastebuds to. (Tip: chefs are open to moderating or increasing the spiciness of the dishes on request).

Cross Border Heat

At Sigree, at the Silver Springs Arcade, the Karachi-waali galouti is a fire-starter, says chef de cuisine, Sandeep Pandey. The restaurant that specialises in the cuisine of ‘undivided India’, serves this Pakistani dish as an appetiser. A tawa-grilled kabab, this dish gets its hotness from ingredients like green and red chillies and spices like black pepper, cloves and the exotic patthar ke phool. A portion roughly includes about 10gm to 15gm of black pepper, 10gm to 15gm white pepper, 20gm-25gm red chilli powder and one or two green chillies depending on how hot they are.

Anjan Chatterjee, chairman and managing director of Speciality Restaurants which owns brands like Mainland China and Oh! Calcutta, apart from Sigree, fell in love with this lamb mince kabab during a trip to Karachi and decided to include it in his restaurant’s menu. Pandey is often besieged by requests from the not-so-brave to tone the dish down.

Meanwhile, Murgh Angar Bedghi is the spiciest pick at Ivory. A Northern Frontier delicacy, it is fired with liberal doses of Kashmiri chillies. According to chef Debojyoti Sarkar, this item was first introduced when the restaurant (then Grain of Salt) opened over seven years ago. “Since then the menu has changed six times but this dish hasn’t been replaced as it is tremendously popular,” says the chef.

And at Afraa, Chef Chakrabarti enjoys tossing up portion upon portion of Jhinga Gawader. A prawn tandoor starter, this Pakistani dish is a medley of chilli powder, green chillies and kabab chini (or allspice, also called Jamaica pepper).

Global Warming

It has just opened its doors and has acquired a hot reputation, what with its repertoire of chillies that come all the way from Mexico. Sancho’s is spicing it up with the habanero (yes, that’s the second hottest chilli in the world), serrano, chipotle (dried jalapenos), ancho and what have you. The habanero is flown from Mexico costing between Rs 1,000 to Rs 5,400 per kilo. The chillies come in a dried form, are hydrated and then blended into a paste. Most of the dishes at Sancho’s use about 50gm of this fiery paste.

Chef Victor Murguia, executive chef, Sancho’s, says that the Cochinita Pibil, a traditional dish from the Yucatan Peninsula in southeastern Mexico, is the hottest dish on his menu. It’s a roasted suckling pig that’s wrapped in a banana leaf overnight and served with a fiery habanero-based salsa. The in-house, handmade chocolates at Sancho’s too haven’t been spared and are prepared with Mexican cacao and chillies and even the pastry icing filling is peppered with chilli flakes.

And then it’s on to Thailand. “Chillies are the main factor creating the kick in Thai cuisine,” says Chef Veena Arora of The Imperial New Delhi. Arora tosses up a delicious Kung Kraphao at the hotel’s popular eatery, Spice Route.

Crank up the heat! The pepper-loaded Puli Munchi Crab (left) is a fiery favourite at Swagath in Delhi; two tablespoons of crushed peppercorns and chilli powder, each along with garam masala, add to the hotness of Chef Praveen Anand’s Kozhi Melagu Curry (below)“The dish is so spicy that it’s served with some raw vegetables as accompaniment to cut the heat,” says Arora. Even though the dish is priced at a steep Rs 1,850 the restaurant does at least 10 portions a day. Arora also dishes out a mean Kaeng Kheow Waan Kai. It’s mean as each portion of this chicken preparation ropes in 50gm of green curry paste. “The green colour of the curry comes, courtesy the green chillies,” she says blandly.

At Zen, the Oriental restaurant at The Park, Kolkata, you should give the Thai steamed whole river bekti with chilli lemon sauce a shot. The dish packs in some 20gm to 30gm of both Thai and local chillies.

And back in Delhi hop over to Kukreja’s other restaurant, Chilli Seassons, to dig into Crispy Fish Thai Chilli Paste that includes some 30gm of roasted red chilli paste. The sole slices are pre-marinated in 5gm of white pepper.

Go South

And now prepare your tongue for a roller-coaster ride with the cuisine from the south of India — especially Andhra Pradesh which is considered to serve up some of the spiciest fare in the country.

In Chennai, Praveen Anand, executive chef of Sheraton Park Hotel & Towers, has a spicy menu in his kitchens courtesy the different varieties of chillies used. “There’s the Guntur chillies called Sanam, the Salem chillies or the Gundu Muluga, Kerala Gandhari chillies, and Bedgi chillies from Karnataka and also lots of peppercons,” says Anand.

He says that there’s nothing to beat the heat of the Andhra dishes like the Bendakai Thalimpu (dry Okra dish) and the Andhra Chapa Pulusu or Nellore fish curry. But it’s the Kozhi Melagu Curry (pepper chicken Chettinad) that walks away with the honours. Into this Anand adds two tablespoons of crushed peppercorns and two teaspoons of chilli powder while the garam masala adds to the hotness.

But Anand is also quick to say: “Though the recipes use plenty of fiery chillies, we try and balance the spices with fresh tamarind and tomatoes.” Since the dishes need to be paired correctly, the fish is served with steamed rice while the chicken goes best with layered flaky paranthas or kal dosai (it’s thicker than a regular plain dosa and cooked without oil).

At Swagath in Delhi the one to take on is the Puli Munchi Crab with its chilli tamarind paste. This Mangalorean dish is targeted to simply blow you away. The Puli (tamarind) Munchi (chilli) is also loaded with black pepper and costs between Rs 1,600 and Rs 2,000. Says Jayesh Shetty, manager: “It is a very popular dish and we do tone down the spiciness if people want.”

Meanwhile, back in Kolkata, the Kerala Mutton Fry at Saffron, The Park, is heaped with black pepper (about 50gm), red chilli powder and a hot green chilli per portion. Hard to believe but there are some guests who ask for fresh green chillies on the side with this ‘hot as hell’ Kerala Mutton Fry at Saffron, says Chef Sharad Dewan wryly. On an average day about 10 portions of the dish are sold.


Manav Sharma, Kitchen Café

Devil’s Curry Chicken

Chef’s Rating: 10/10

Ingredients: 40gm dry red chillies, whole, 30gm lemon grass, 60gm Madrasi onion, 20gm hazelnut, 25gm galangal, 30gm haldi, raw, 50gm kasundi, 25ml vinegar, 10gm sugar, Salt to taste, 20ml light soya, 300gm boneless chicken leg, 50gm mushrooms, 80gm potatoes, 60gm Chinese cabbage, 30ml refined oil, 5gm black pepper, coarsely ground, 10gm dry coriander powder

Method: Soak dry whole red chillies in lukewarm water overnight. Boil them in water for some time and in a blender make a smooth paste with the red chillies, lemongrass, Madrasi onions, hazelnuts, galangal and raw haldi. Now in a wok add oil and cook the paste in it till the oil separates. Now add the chicken pieces and the potatoes and when they are cooked about 75 per cent, add the mushroom and the kasundi paste. Add salt and light soya according to taste, as well as the Chinese cabbage. Simmer till the Chinese cabbage is cooked, add black pepper and serve hot with steamed rice.


Veena Arora, Spice Route, Imperial Hotel

Kung Kraphao

Chef’s Rating: 9/10

Ingredients: 4 Tiger prawns, 50gm hot basil, 5gm garlic, 15gm fresh red chillies, (pounded), 7ml oyster sauce, 2ml fish sauce, 2gm sugar, 5ml oil

Method: Peel and devein the prawns keeping the tails. Fry the prawns. Pour oil in the wok, add the pounded garlic and chilli and stir till light brown. Add the prawns, sauces and sugar. When the prawns are done, add the basil and give a quick stir. Serve hot with steamed rice.

Note: In place of the prawns, you can use chicken, pork, tenderloin or fish.


Samita Bhatia, The Personal Telegraph
(Additional reporting by Angona Paul and Susmita Saha)