India To Weaponize Bhut Jolokia (Pepper)

[Markxxx]

I was reading online today that India is going to weaponize the Bhut Jolokia, considered by some to be the world's hottest pepper

From MSNBC:

The Indian military has a new weapon against terrorism: the world's hottest chili.

After conducting tests, the military has decided to use the thumb-sized "bhut jolokia," or "ghost chili," to make tear gas-like hand grenades to immobilize suspects, defense officials said Tuesday.

The bhut jolokia was accepted by Guinness World Records in 2007 as the world's spiciest chili.

Full sttory at MSNBC

So has anyone here tasted the Bhut Jolokia? If so what do you think of it?

[silenus]

Love 'em! I may try to grow them some year, as I've had pretty good luck with habaneros. The Bhut is nicely hellish, but still with some flavor.

[The Facts]

I'd love it. Most peppers aren't hot enough for me.

[WarmNPrickly]

I like habeneros, but I use them sparingly when I do. A friend of my wife is starting some and she thought I might like a few plants. I just don't need anything hotter than a habenero.

[chromaticity]

Strangely, the first time I heard of or ate bhut jolakia was in Japan. It definitely tastes different compared to a habanero chilli. After eating a few the base of my tongue burns, instead of the tip as with habaneros. I primarily eat it as a snack below, but I ate it raw last year when I visited home too.

http://tohato.jp/news/news.php?data_number=430
In english

ETA: Found a movie! (Click on the play button)
http://tohato.jp/products/habanero/

[astorian]

When it comes to spices, I concede that I'm a wimp. It may come from being Irish (the Irish think salt and black pepper are exotic spices).

But having lived in Texas for 24 years and having tried various foreign cuisines, I've reached this conclusion: East Indians would laugh at what passes for hot chili among self-styled macho Texans. Seriously, Texans who THINK they can handle the hottest of foods would be in tears, begging for mercy, if they tried real Indian food.

[Johnny Q]

How does it compare to the Guatemalan Insanity Pepper?

[Chronos]

I checked that I'd try it, but the poll didn't give an option for "...but only if it's highly diluted". Hyperpeppers like that have their place, but that place is not eaten straight by itself.

[wolfman]

Most pepper sprays are already concentrated much stronger than any natural pepper. It doesn't matter where the capsaicin came from once you refine it to 80-90%

[Jackmannii]

I like hot spicy food, but don't see the point in consuming dishes made with a pepper that's up to five times hotter than the habanero (on the Scoville scale).

Unless you're into macho bragging rights.

[flight]

Originally Posted by Johnny Q

How does it compare to the Guatemalan Insanity Pepper?

Dude, it IS the insanity pepper.

Originally Posted by wolfman

Most pepper sprays are already concentrated much stronger than any natural pepper. It doesn't matter where the capsaicin came from once you refine it to 80-90%

The wings I had were with a sauce quoted at 1 million Scoville. Pepper sprays tend to be about 2 million.

Perhaps it is tasty in some forms, but what I had was just nasty. That is, the little of it I could taste. It was a competition to eat 12 in 15 minutes... and all of the mounds of sauce that came with it... and lick your fingers clean... and then not drink anything for 5 minutes.

It burned a little bit.

[Terraplane]

I've never had one but I voted that I'd try it. Very carefully, and mainly only to say that I did. I know it's going to be way too hot for me. Habaneros by themselves are too hot for me, though I like them diluted in a hot sauce or in a meal.

[Indistinguishable]

Like other posters, I love spicy food (and, for that matter, Indian food), but don't see the point in eating something like this straight; the appeal is in the taste, not the Scoville units; there's a reason pure capsaicin isn't a very popular spice. So, perhaps, if there were a way to use this diluted to make something tasty, then I'd go for it, but if it's just a matter of demonstrating heat masochism, then I'm not interested.

[billfish678]

I grow my own Habs every year. Some I pick when green. Some I manage to get to yellow/orange. I puree them with about 1//3 pepper, 1/3 minced garlic, 1/3 onion, and some other spices and a bit of vinegar for the liquid base.

Despite the habaneros reputation, you can actually eat small amounts of my "dip" straight on a chip without dying. And the flavor difference between those two, and other hot peppers I grow is noticable. Given that, I suspect this pepper is tolerable as well.

[wolfman]

I totally agree, Habaneros have a much different taste than any other peppers. Kind of a fruity taste. I do with there was a milder hab maybe one-third intensity, with the same flavor otherwise, so I could eat them like cherries.(eating Habs when you have acid reflux leads to one miserable night, waking up with stomach acid in your lungs just sucks)

[Drain Bead]

A friend of mine from work went to a party where they reconstituted about 8 dried bhut jolokias, put them in a blender, and mixed a tablespoon of the resulting pepper puree with vodka and did them as shots. Her blog about it is hilarious.

[aruvqan]

We have seeds and are going to grow them this year

[pulykamell]

Haven't managed to find one yet. I like habaneros and I'll eat three or four at a sitting, so I think I'd be able to stand the bhut jolokia fine, but I'd be lying if I didn't say it does make me a little nervous.

[aceplace57]

What's new?

Pepper Spray has been around 20 years. The active ingredient in pepper spray is capsaicin, which is a chemical derived from the fruit of plants in the Capsicum genus, including chilis.

Isn't this just a new twist for a weapon?

[Roderick Femm]

Just an aside, this question was used on Wait Wait Don't Tell Me today, as part of Bluff the Listener. The topic was "things to do with food besides eating it", and the other two choices were a jockstrap made out of pork rind (I think), and putting people into food for therapeutic affect instead of putting food into people.

The listener got it right, but she didn't say she read it here first.


Roddy