culinarystorm

How hot do you like your food?




Are you a baby or a brave-heart when it comes to munching on munchies that make your eyes water, your stomach burn, and throat scorch?




What kind of chillies are we talking, you say?




Well, let’s see.




Serrano, Chipotle, Habanero, Ancho.




And if you’re in the big leauges – The Ghost Chilli (Bhoot jholokia)




Frightened yet?




Two nights ago Ruchira, Sid, and I, sampled dishes from the upcoming chilli food festival at DoubleTree by Hilton in Mayur Vihar.




I have a scale for how hot each dish was.







If you don’t get the LOTR reference, 1 is mild and 10 is crazy hot, with everything else in between.




(Also, read The Lord of the Rings. Please.)




We started big. These Voodoo chilli chicken fingers.







Laced with Ghost chilli, they were an 8 on my scale.




The Tex Mex buffalo wings with Serrano chilli salsa was a 4.







The Roasted fiery pork ribs rubbed with Chipotle chilli was delicious. Tender ribs, with a slightly sour, spicy, Vindaloo-ish feel, these babies were a 4.







Devilled lamb meat patties came next. Braised in a Habanero sauce, they were pretty hot, rather soft, and quickly devoured. I gave this one a 5.







I must mention that the following were our weapons in our brave battle against the chillies of the world.




Cold Milk.







And a Chocolate milkshake 🙂







Next we tried Firecrackers – vegetable and Habanero chilli rolls. Chilli meter reading was 6, but this was the only dish none of us finished. It didn’t have any discernible flavour or character.







Baked baby eggplant was my most favourite dish of the evening. These cuties were topped with a Chipotle chilli ragout and baked until they imparted a sweet, caramelized flavour. 4 on the scale.







The Onion and green chilli fritters were like Onion bhajis, but were dusted with Ancho chilli. Rather greasy, these ones scored a 5.







And finally, we got the Ghost chilli fritters. These were fried green chillies filled with Cheddar and Ghost chillies. One bite, and I was done. This one was a 9.







Look, here’s Sid before the Ghost chilli fritter.







And here he is after his first (and final) bite.







If you’re a chilli lover, there’s lots to be happy about. And even if you’re a bit of a chicken, there are some yummy things to try on this menu that won’t blow smoke out of your ears.




The Chilli Festival starts on 1st February, 2013 at The Roadhouse Bar and Grill, in DoubleTree by Hilton, Mayur Vihar. Head over there for your dose of HOT!