September 08, 2006

FMG-7 Scotch Bonnet Chili



Thats scotch bonnet chili, one of the hottest chilies known. It is described as a very small but very hot chilli, similar to the habanero. Scotch bonnets are frequently used in Caribbean cooking. They can be light green, yellow or red. After preparing chillies, it's important to avoid contact with the eyes or any sensitive skin - even washing the hands may not be enough to remove all the capsaicin, the volatile oil in the fruit that gives it its hot taste. I experienced this first hand when I accidently rubbed my eye with my hand hours after handling it.
Unlike the Jalapeno pepper which has a bell pepper like thick fleshy skin and flavor, the scotch bonnet is closer in taste to Indian and Thai chilies. I grew this in my garden and was disappointed to see just 5-6 fruits on a plant, my vision of a thriving chili plant shrivelling. But when I tasted it, realised that each chili is worth at least 10 of the regular Indian chilies. Yum.
It is also called "kannampotti" in Malayalam according to Injimanga,our seasoned gardener.

9 comments:

Jayashree said...

It looks like bell pepper...not sure what kind, though.

Anonymous said...

Orange bell pepper.

Anonymous said...

Is it a cashew fruit?

Mrs. K said...

orange bell pepper/capsicum.
But do they have that pointy thing on the bottom end? Maybe this is something else.

Priya Bhaskaran said...

Ithu Orange Bell sweet peppers anoo??

Krithika said...

They look so good. Where did you get the seeds from ?

Shah cooks said...

krithika, i got the chilies from the local nursery.

Anonymous said...

This is called kannampotti in Malayalam I think.

Anonymous said...

Definitely not a bell pepper (capsicum).

Scotch Bonnets are VERY potent