Spice Of Life

We travelled to a sleepy town near the capital of Assam to unravel the secrets behind one of the fieriest chillies in the world

There are many things about India that are universally accepted. Mostly, those things are cliches and only a few have any truth to them. One example of the latter kind is that Indian food can be spicy. Well, we have a love for all things spicy. The intensity varies according to palates and regions but it is a dominant trait in most Indian cuisine.

Not surprisingly, in our quest to find a secret ingredient that is typically Indian, we found ourselves in Guwahati, Assam, as we decided to trace the origins of the deadly Ghost pepper aka Bhoot Jholokia – once hailed as the spiciest chilly in the world. Helping us on this journey was none other than celebrity chef of global renown, Kelvin Cheung.

Having spent a major part of his childhood in and around a Chinese restaurant that belonged to his family, Cheung is a pro when it comes to Asian food. Growing up in Canada gave him a distinct outlook towards food and he has honed his culinary skills to cater to a wider audience. His specialities include typical Asian and Indian cuisine. Interestingly, he even serves a Ghost pepper-derived sauce at his restaurant, Bastian, in Mumbai, which is regularly frequented by famous foodies including actors, cricketers and even politicians. “Indians generally like spicy food,” he tells us. “But they also like the other flavours. You can’t make bland food for them. There is so much variety here when it comes to ingredients that I am discovering new things practically every day.”

This was one of the reasons why Kelvin joined us on this leg of the journey which was to take us into the heart of Assam to check out the famed chilly which is used extensively in Assamese cuisine.