| Its quite a hotly contested argument, but Indian | | | | Curry Hell |
| restaurant owners and chefs alike are getting | | | | Bangladeshi restaurateur Rukon Latif, owner of |
| rather heated over the question of who exactly | | | | the Rupali Restaurant in the city of Newcastle, |
| owns teh worlds hottest curry?lets take a look at | | | | says he has cooked a curry that is hotter than |
| the contestants. | | | | the Bollywood Burner. He calls it Curry Hell - a dish |
| The Bollywood Burner | | | | that he says was created by his father Abdul |
| A curry so hot it comes with a health warning | | | | Latif when he opened Rupali in 1977. |
| has been created by a London chef who is hoping | | | | “How dare they claim the Bollywood Burner is |
| to make the record books. | | | | hotter than Curry Hell?” asked Latif. “Dad |
| The Bollywood Burner is made with the | | | | would be turning in his grave. We’ve been |
| eye-wateringly hot Naga pepper and seeds - one | | | | serving the Curry Hell for years now and it’s |
| of the world’s hottest chillis. | | | | one of our most popular dishes.” |
| The Naga pepper measures 855,000 on the | | | | “But we’ve been thinking of ways to |
| Scoville scale of piquancy - over 100 times hotter | | | | make it stronger - we are experimenting with |
| than a jalapeno pepper which measures just | | | | using Mexican chillies rather than the crushed |
| 8,000. | | | | Indian bird’s eye chillies we use traditionally. |
| Diners at The Cinnamon Club are required to sign | | | | The heat does not come from the chillies alone. |
| a disclaimer saying they are aware of the nature | | | | There’s a secret ingredient too which gives it |
| and risks involved with tasting the lamb-based | | | | its kick,” he added. |
| Bollywood Burner before eating it. | | | | Meanwhile, celebrities have been sampling the |
| Chef Vivek Singh said his dish was inspired by | | | | Bollywood Burner and sweating with delight. |
| cuisine from Hyderabad, the state capital of | | | | Popular chat show host Jonathan Ross wolfed |
| Andhra Pradesh in India. | | | | down the dish on television Friday night after |
| He said: “We found a list of the 10 hottest | | | | signing the ‘by-my-own-will’ disclaimer. But |
| chillies and decided to try and use some of them. | | | | Hollywood actor Steve Carell politely turned down |
| I think it will be the hottest curry in the | | | | Ross’s offer to sample a spoonful. |
| world.” | | | | Lianne la Borde of the Daily Star newspaper said: |
| He added that the curry may not regularly appear | | | | “It is the hottest I have ever tasted. At first, |
| on the menu: “I would create it on demand | | | | it tasted delicious. Then my mouth caught fire. It |
| for customers but will not include it all the time, I | | | | even made me feel dizzy. Definitely, one for the |
| think it’s just too extreme a dish.” | | | | connoisseur. ” |
| Toby Steele, 19, a student from Brighton was the | | | | Chloe Scott, food editor for the Metro tabloid, |
| first to taste the Bollywood Burner at the | | | | said: “It is the seeds of the pepper, which |
| restaurant on Great Smith Street in Westminster. | | | | make it unbearably hot. The chemical in chillies, the |
| He said: “I’m usually a korma man and I | | | | capsaicin, doesn’t burn but fools the brain into |
| suspect this is the hottest thing I’ve ever | | | | feeling pain.” |
| tasted. | | | | Metro taster James Ellis said: “I’ve tried |
| “It was nice actually, you could really taste | | | | the Bollywood Burner and, while scorchingly spicy, |
| the spices. | | | | it is daal-icious. The lamb-based curry is innocuous |
| “The initial taste isn’t that hot but now, a | | | | enough at the first bite, especially if you only try |
| couple of minutes later, I feel a bit floaty and | | | | the filling. |
| light-headed.” | | | | “But a mouthful, including the Scotch bonnet |
| The Bollywood Burner will be submitted to the | | | | casing, saw my taste buds melt in fury at the |
| Guinness World Records for verification of its | | | | inferno in my mouth. Meanwhile, my heartbeat, |
| status as the world’s hottest curry. The | | | | which started at a resting pace of 68 beats per |
| results should be announced in two to three | | | | minute, zoomed up to 128 - the equivalent of |
| weeks. | | | | doing aerobic exercise. |