New Coastie – A whole chilli experience

If you do not eat spicy food, you are missing out on life. Spices infuse our dishes with both flavour and a fiery kick. Beyond the utter delight of a palate-tingling experience, indulging in spicy cuisines brings along a host of health benefits. But who cares about health – let’s focus on taste today? Disclaimer: I can only speak for Pakistani/Indian food because that is my whakapapa.

Let us deal with a myth about spicy food. The belief in the Western world that “spicy” is an addition of a couple of tablespoons of red chilli powder. Which is not helped by restaurants who just add more chilli powder as you go from mild to medium to hot. People think that the journey through the spicy continuum is measured by your increased level of sweat, tears, discomfort, ultimately leading to a life altering visit to the toilet. If chilli powder is the only strategy to make your food spicy then you better get your intestines checked for holes in your next yearly physical.

I am not bagging on red chilli powder. It plays a vital role in providing that burst of heat in your mouth, but I believe that it is a one trick pony. It needs to be in a team of spices to raise the overall flavour profile of a dish. You do not need a firestorm in your mouth. You need an endorphin induced, whole body experience. To improve the performance of the Blackcaps you just do not add three more Kane Williamsons in the team. You need performance improvements from all the players in the team. The same logic applies to a good spicy butter chicken. You don’t just add another tablespoon of red chilli powder, you need to raise the levels of coriander, cumin, ginger, garlic, or any other ingredients you use in your recipe.

I know what you are thinking. But what about our multicultural and multifaceted society? At the dinner table at home, two people might like some heat and others might not. You cannot change the whole base of a dish just to cater to two people. Well, it’s your lucky day. I have some solutions for you.

Instead of using the recommended amount of chilli powder for a regular dish, you cook with 3-4 small fresh whole green chilli peppers. The operative word here is “whole”. Keeping the chillies whole restricts most of the heat to inside the chilli, but gives that natural fresh pepper taste to the dish. The heat fiends on the table can break open the whole green chilli pepper on their plate to liberate the seeds and get their hit. Others can just ignore the chilli peppers. I have employed this strategy to great success in my cooking and I have learnt from the best Pakistani chef in the world, my mother.

The old school method of sprinkling some crushed black pepper on your plate works. You can also have Indian/Pakistani achar (pickle) on the side which adds a bit of sour spicy excitement to your dish specially with dhal and rice/naan. It doesn’t always have to be red chilli powder.

I love you red chilli powder, but sometimes you overplay your hand, it is time to be a team player. For the fellow Coasties, go ahead, be adventurous and indulge in some spicy food. It will change your life.