The hottest curry...

[Moloko]

If I buy a Madras, I'll always pep it up with a teaspoon of really hot chilli powder.
Mmmmmmm, like a dozen wasps doing the pogo on my tongue.

[mike]

We ate at a lovely-looking restaurant in Kerala about 4 years ago - to set the scene, it looked a bit like the beach in the background here:


Beautiful. 

I had the fresh fish, it looked and smelled absolutely amazing; firm, moist white fish in a dry paste, barbecued about 20 yards from where it'd been dragged out of the sea. 

in my defence, i sweat quite a lot anyway, it was 35 degrees and probably over 90% humidity.

I've never felt worse than about 3 seconds after the first bite of my lunch.  The locals absolutely fell about laughing as I went red, then purple, then (apparently) a funny blue colour. I couldnt speak, didnt trust myself to talk and couldnt feel my mouth at all.  My sweat glands went into overdrive and within seconds my face was absolutely dripping. 

no, I didnt finish it. Even after several lassis and a couple of kingfishers my mouth was still bloody sore several hours after that one bite.    Mrs Mike, who had wisely gone for a different menu option, thought it was hilarious.

[Cudzoziemiec]

The region of India renowned for the hottest food is actually Andhra Pradesh. A colleague who comes from there says every time he goes back, the first day he has to readjust, then when he comes back here, he finds the local stuff really bland.

FWIW I've never seen in India any food described as "Madras" (nor "Chennai"!). Oh, and Vindaloo is actually a Portugese invention (apparently it means something like wine with garlic - vin d'aloo, with appropriate Goan corruptions) and it is strictly a pork dish.

[Jon P]

My hottest meal was also in Thailand.

When I ordered it they said "No, no - not for tourists only for Thai people".  Fancying myself as liking spicy food I ordered anyway and then all the waitstaff came and stood around the table when it arrived.  It WAS hot!!!  I enjoyed it (what I could taste other than HOT) but downed several litres of water and broke out in a sweat.  When I finished, they applauded.

The Thai embassy in Berlin is close to where my ex and daughter live, it's quite telling that the Thai restaurant across the road serves food that is quite a bit hotter than most others we've been to!

... and the point of raking this thread up again - I just lost my vindaloo virginity, downed a veg vindaloo with rice and tarka dhal, I did finish it though it was pretty stodgy, wouldn't order another just for the sake if it, I normally like Jalfrezi which are quite hot.

[Cudzoziemiec]

Mmmmmm, a veg jalfrezi is one of my faves.

[Wowbagger]

Referring to my OP, I have since had a hotter one than that which I considered then to be in second place. It was at a YACF gathering at Lpoo St stn after which we went to a curry house recommended by Valiant. Everyone else seemed to have a lovely meal, but I made the mistake of ordering something which contained chilli bulbs. It was awful. It might even have been hotter than the Bradford curry I referred to above. I couldn't finish it, and I couldn't eat anything else much because everything just tasted overwhelmingly hot after that.

[Ham]

Referring to my OP, I have since had a hotter one than that which I considered then to be in second place. It was at a YACF gathering at Lpoo St stn after wwich we went to a curry house recommended by Valiant. Everyone else seemed to have a lovely meal, but I made the mistake of ordering something which contained chilli bulbs. It was awful. It might even have been hotter than the Bradford curry I referred to above. I couldn't finish it, and I couldn't eat anything else much because everything just tasted overwhelmingly hot after that.

If you could tell me what and where you might make me quite happy. Most Indian restaurant just don't put enough fresh chilli in. ;-)

[Wowbagger]

Referring to my OP, I have since had a hotter one than that which I considered then to be in second place. It was at a YACF gathering at Lpoo St stn after wwich we went to a curry house recommended by Valiant. Everyone else seemed to have a lovely meal, but I made the mistake of ordering something which contained chilli bulbs. It was awful. It might even have been hotter than the Bradford curry I referred to above. I couldn't finish it, and I couldn't eat anything else much because everything just tasted overwhelmingly hot after that.

If you could tell me what and where you might make me quite happy. Most Indian restaurant just don't put enough fresh chilli in. ;-)

I can't remember exactly where, but it was very close to Lpoo St Stn, but on the east side of Bishopsgate, in one of the side roads. PM Valiant and I'm sure he will be able to give you precise directions.

[Charlotte]

Herb and Spice
11a Whites Row E1

Amazing restaurant.  Cheap and very, very good indeed.  We went back there for a meal with Julian's family recently. 

[pcolbeck]

Is that the one we went to a few months ago ? It was very good. The raw chillies Valiant ordered as an appetiser were somewhat warm though.

[spesh]

FWIW I've never seen in India any food described as "Madras" (nor "Chennai"!). Oh, and Vindaloo is actually a Portugese invention (apparently it means something like wine with garlic - vin d'aloo, with appropriate Goan corruptions) and it is strictly a pork dish.

According to one of my curry books, the original Portugese dish was called vinha d'alhos, it consisted of pork marinated in wine vinegar and garlic. The Goanese locals found it to be a bit bland, so they increased the garlic quantity and added spices, especially chilli. They simplified the name to Vind-dar-loo.

The restaurant version of vindaloo originated out of a need for a halfway house between "Madras" and "Phall" strength, and Vindaloo (a further simplification) seemd like a good name. Obviously, pork and wine were a bit problematic for the Moslem proprietors of the early curry houses, and marination was too time-consuming, so the dish devolved into yer bog standard meat curry with two extra teaspoons of chilli powder per serving, with chunks of potato being added instead of garlic due to a mistranslation of the original name of the dish.

[Valiant]

We ate at a lovely-looking restaurant in Kerala about 4 years ago - to set the scene, it looked a bit like the beach in the background here:


Beautiful. 

I had the fresh fish, it looked and smelled absolutely amazing; firm, moist white fish in a dry paste, barbecued about 20 yards from where it'd been dragged out of the sea. 

in my defence, i sweat quite a lot anyway, it was 35 degrees and probably over 90% humidity.

I've never felt worse than about 3 seconds after the first bite of my lunch.  The locals absolutely fell about laughing as I went red, then purple, then (apparently) a funny blue colour. I couldnt speak, didnt trust myself to talk and couldnt feel my mouth at all.  My sweat glands went into overdrive and within seconds my face was absolutely dripping. 

no, I didnt finish it. Even after several lassis and a couple of kingfishers my mouth was still bloody sore several hours after that one bite.    Mrs Mike, who had wisely gone for a different menu option, thought it was hilarious.

Me too lol. I absolutely adored it

[Valiant]

Herb and Spice
11a Whites Row E1

Amazing restaurant.  Cheap and very, very good indeed.  We went back there for a meal with Julian's family recently.  

The raw chilli eating of the previous YACF meet didn't put you off then?

[Ham]

Raw chilli eating is a huuuge attraction to some ;-)

Have you tried the Fried Chilli Iddli in Chennai Dosa, High Street North?

[Charlotte]

Herb and Spice
11a Whites Row E1

Amazing restaurant.  Cheap and very, very good indeed.  We went back there for a meal with Julian's family recently. 

The raw chilli eating of the previous YACF meet didn't put you off then?

Gods, no.  Usually, if the waiter in a curry house asks me how I'd like a dish, I say "fairly hot".  But in Herb and Spice (that I've been back to a few times since that YACF meal) I say, "mild, please".

Otherwise, it comes out hot enough to melt the roof of your mouth off 

[pcolbeck]

FWIW I've never seen in India any food described as "Madras" (nor "Chennai"!). Oh, and Vindaloo is actually a Portugese invention (apparently it means something like wine with garlic - vin d'aloo, with appropriate Goan corruptions) and it is strictly a pork dish.

According to one of my curry books, the original Portugese dish was called vinha d'alhos, it consisted of pork marinated in wine vinegar and garlic. The Goanese locals found it to be a bit bland, so they increased the garlic quantity and added spices, especially chilli. They simplified the name to Vind-dar-loo.

Although it was the Portuguese who introduced the Indian subcontinent to chillies not the other way around.

[Cudzoziemiec]

Apart from that it sounds pretty likely, especially the aloo/alho confusion. Of course potatoes were introduced to India along with chillies, and tomatoes.

[pcolbeck]

I wonder how Indians made their curries hot before chillies were available ?

[citoyen]

Pepper.

Long pepper - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[pcolbeck]

Can you make things that hot with normal pepper ?

[citoyen]

I don't know but I suspect the preference for those levels of heat only arose with the arrival of chilis on the subcontinent.

d.

[pcolbeck]

That's what I wondered about.

[Valiant]

There are plenty of hot peppers, the naga being the native one.

[Cudzoziemiec]

I thought the naga is a type of hot caspsicum, not a pepper as in black pepper corns, and therefore must also be an import from the Americas?

[Valiant]

Hmm I dunno actually.