Humbled

Having had pickles in plenty (ranging from the sweetest to the hottest), you tend to wonder, have I seen it all? The different forms of serving the ultimate in spice all tried and conquered successfully. Just when you think that you have seen it all in all forms you see a small cluster of four chillies lying inconspicuously besides a vegetable vendor on a sack spread out with all the other vegetables on sale. You hardly give it a second glance but then your attention unknowingly gets drawn to that small cluster, maybe because of the oddity of seeing these clusters of three, when all the other chillies nearby are heaped up in bulk.

Having heard of the famous Naga Jolokia Chillies, the Worlds Hottest Chilly and a native of our country, Tezpur, Assam, it was only fitting to enquire with the vendor if they were the real deal. Well the vendor certainly looked at us with awe and confusion, probably thinking to himself crazy buggers don’t they know the world hottest chilly!!!

(Honestly put, this chilly, ever since I have had the first taste, has been spicing up my meals at regular intervals thanks to a friend who graciously offered up her share of the pickle made with the infamous naga’s.)

Hearing this we grab a cluster of three chillies and pay for it hurrying back home to actually or should I say finally eat the chilly naturally, ie; raw. Sitting down for lunch sumptuous in itself we decide to take the spice to a different level with the naga jolokia. Warned well in advance by my friends mom the two of us were only too excited to try the chilly and paid little heed the good intended warnings. A very small pinch later there were the two of us scrambling for bottles of water and tears coming out of the eyes, sweat pouring out of every pore and I would probably think had we had some more of the chilly it wouldn’t be out of the ordinary to see smoke coming out the ears.

The first small bite of the small pinch was really cool initially, but once it left the tongue and went down the throat it started marking a trail of fire right to the belly. This little chilly really knows how to bring down even the bravest amongst us. Apparently the tribals of the north-east have a whole chilly with their meals, maybe reasons for their rosy cheeks! Hearsay was that the contestants of a popular reality were asked to chew down one of these naga’s as part of their dare. Whew I pity the poor buggers.

The humble Naga Jolokia sure knows a thing or two about making or rather giving a new term to the whole definition of spicy food. This little treat is something one has to get a taste of at least once in his lifetime. Honestly speaking I am up for another bite of raw spice. Sizzle!