Playing with fire

Ghost chilli

Mike Jack, a Canadian record-holder in eating chillies, set a new Guinness World Record by devouring three Carolina Reaper chillies - the hottest chilli in the world according to Guinness - in less than 10 seconds. Inspired by him, we looked around to find the spiciest dishes on the city's food map, in case Jack's record has your taste buds tingling.

Mike Jack attempts to eat Carolina Reapers. Pic/Guinness World Record

For dumpling lovers
Ghost chilli, shares Keenan Tham, founder of Pebble Street Hospitality, has a Scoville unit (that indicates hotness) of about 10,00,000. He urges us to try the ghost chilli dumplings at his restaurant Foo.
At: Foo Town and Lower Parel
Cost: Rs 360 plus taxes for veg; Rs 410 plus taxes for non-veg

Assamese zing

Malad-based home chef Tahin Ojah Sharma who runs the delivery kitchen Helonci, tells us that bhut jolokia or ghost pepper, one of the world's hottest chillies, is used in certain Assamese dishes. She offers chicken pan-fried with bhut jolokia, and bhut jolokia chicken steamed in a banana leaf.
Call: 9833998240
Cost: Rs 450

Guntur calling

Andhra cuisine is famous for its spicy dishes, and one of the chillies responsible for this is the Guntur sannam, reveals Muthu Krishnan C Nadar, head chef at Thangabali. "Guntur kozi vepudu is a dish made by grinding Guntur sannam chilli with whole coriander, cinnamon sticks, garlic and black pepper," says Nadar, adding that the dish originated from the kitchens of local paddy farmers who needed to pair rice with something hot.
At: Thangabali Mahim
Log on to: Swiggy or Zomato
Cost: Rs 290

Dynamite kick

A signature dish that's inherently piquant is the lobster dynamite, claims Amol Phute, chef de cuisine at Bastian. "It's an open-faced, Western-style sushi with butter-poached lobster and our dynamite sauce that contains ghost chillies," says Phute.
At: Bastian, Bandra and Worli
Call: 8419966853
Cost: Rs 1,250 plus taxes

Can you wing it?

This writer remembers grossly underestimating the spice quotient in Social's death wings - they're quite lethal. Chef Glyston Gracias, city chef, tells us the dish was introduced in 2014: "Death wings, as the name suggests, are devilishly spicy wings coated with our secret sauce made in-house with four types of chillies." The restaurant and bar chain is running an ongoing challenge across all their outposts, he informs us. "If you can finish a plate all by yourself without pausing to take a sip of water, there's lemonade on the house."
At: Any outpost of Social
Cost: Rs 280 onwards

Thecha and cheese sandwich

For those who love their Bombay sandwich, Risha Shah, co-founder of Instawich Sandwiches, says they offer a peppery chilli cheese sandwich and a thecha and cheese sandwich. "These come with our in-house Kolhapuri red thecha, that's made with Kolhapuri chillies. I would rate the heat level an 8/10," she adds.
Log on to: Swiggy or Zomato
Cost: Rs 145 for both

Ingredients
>> 100g onions
>> 100g tomatoes
>> 100g capsicum >> 100g spicy red thecha (made by hand-pounding Kolhapuri red chillies, garlic, oil, mustard seeds, asafoetida and salt)
>> 100g green chutney
>> A pinch of sandwich masala £Grated cheddar to garnish

Method
Mix the finely chopped tomatoes, onions and capsicum with the red thecha and sandwich masala. Apply the green chutney on the bread slices. Fill in the mixed ingredients between the slices of bread. Add the grated cheddar cheese and grill the sandwich well. Serve with green chutney and thecha on the side for some added kick.