NEWS: Hot Stuff!!

By Mark McLaughlin
Edinburgh Evening News
September 3, 2008

IT'S thought to be the most powerful chilli in the world and has been used to create the hottest curry known to man.

But for 28-year-old curry fan Debbie Armstrong, it's still not hot enough.

The mum-of-two from North Berwick set restaurateur Assader Ali, owner of Zest on North St Andrews Street, the challenge of making a curry that would make her head spin.

Relishing the task, he ordered half a dozen super strong Dorset Naga chillis - over 100 times hotter than the strongest jalapeno.

It is the same chilli which was used by a London restaurateur to create the Bollywood Burner - which required guests sign a health disclaimer before tucking in.

When IT recruitment consultant Debbie arrived to sample the dish yesterday, she declared it delicious but hardly enough to raise a sweat.

She developed her love of curry ten years ago after sampling a dish so hot it made her go temporarily deaf - an experience she has been trying to replicate ever since.

She said: "At my local takeaway I ask them to put 30 chillis in my curry just to taste the spice.

"I've been to Australia, America, Spain, the Canaries and went to the nearest curry house and asked for the hottest curry they had and every time I've been disappointed.

"I've had super-hot curries before but they've mostly been made with industrial amounts of chilli powder. The only thing that gives me the buzz is real chillis."

For the challenge, Mr Ali offered to use a single Naga chilli - promising a free meal if she finished it. She sneered at the offer and demanded he fling in his entire stock in. Despite several attempts to dissuade her, Debbie held firm and the restaurateur took his fiery haul to the kitchen.

He emerged 15 minutes later bearing a supercharged version of his signature Khashi Garam Massala dish, and within 15 minutes the curry was gone.

Finishing off the last of it with some rice, Debbie said: "It was delicious, and it was probably the hottest curry I've ever had - but it's still not hot enough."

Mr Ali has vowed to create something even stronger. He said: "Next time, I'll make sure the chillis are super-fresh and hopefully Debbie will finally be satisfied."