September 21, 2018
These chilli peppers are not for the faint-hearted. In fact, you’d have to be incredibly brave (or stupid) to even think about trying one.
Indian cuisine is famous for producing delicious spicy food, with chicken vindaloo and madras dishes always proving popular at our buffet. However, even these punchy curries are very low down on the Scoville scale- which provides the official measurements of chilli pepper strength.
The scale is measured in Scoville Heat Units (SHUs), allowing people to see what is officially the hottest food in the world. To give you a little perspective, the jalapeno pepper scores around 3,500 SHUs, while tabasco scores 30,000 and the habanero clocks in at 100,00. Of course, they are absolutely nowhere near the top.
So, what is the hottest chilli pepper in the world right now?
This ghost pepper is the spiciest chilli currently used in Indian cuisine.
The hottest phaal curries in the world use the Bhut jolokia alongside a range of other chillies, causing many who have tried it to start hallucinating- while others have even been rushed to hospital. In fact, this pepper is so spicy it’s even been weaponised in the form of tear gas!
Officially regarded as the hottest pepper in the world back in 2007, the Bhut jolokia has been overtaken by several other chillies in recent years. However, since it’s the spiciest pepper you’ll ever find in a curry, we felt we should include it in our list.
Royal Nawaab Spice Rating: Only for the brave.
We all know that 7-pot peppers are a little on the spicy side, and the hottest of them all is the Douglah. Clocking in at just under 2 million SHUs, this pepper can be recognised (and subsequently avoided) by its dark purple skin and pimply surface.
Also known as the chocolate 7-pot pepper, you’d probably have to be clinically insane to put the Douglah anywhere near your mouth, though it’s commonly used in the most extreme of hot sauces. Over 500 times hotter than a standard jalapeno pepper, this should only be tried by the most avid lovers of nuclear flavours.
Royal Nawaab Spice Rating: I can’t feel my tongue.
At first, the spice of the Trinidad moruga scorpion might not feel so bad. But then, just a few seconds later, the real intensity of the chili will quite literally knock your socks off.
This is unbelievably spicy- and it’s a spice that just builds and builds and builds. Almost twice as hot as the Bhut jolokia (remember, the pepper that makes you hallucinate!), we dread to think what would happen if one of these peppers even touched your tongue.
Recognised by its blazing, fiery red skin and crinkly texture, this is one of the rarest, most formidable chilli peppers currently known to man.
Royal Nawaab Spice Rating: Goodbye taste buds. Forever.
According to the Guinness World Records, this is the hottest pepper in the world right now.
Clocking in at well over 2 million SHUs and making us thirsty just thinking about it, the Carolina Reaper is absolutely deadly. Coated in a blazing, gnarled red skin and sporting a wicked pointed tail, the Reaper is unbelievably rich in Capsaicin, and acts as a cross-breed of the Naga and La Soufriere peppers.
You better get the goggles on if you’re ever planning on handling one of these. But, whatever you do, don’t touch the pepper and then touch your eye. Ouch.
Royal Nawaab Spice Rating: Somebody call an ambulance.
Although we don’t cook with any of these ridiculously spicy peppers, Royal Nawaab still offers a menu packed with spice and flavour. Pay us a visit to find out why we’re consider the best Indian restaurant in London!
