As I started to write about why Indian food is so hot and what could be done about it, I thought I would do some digging around on the internet to learn about the heat of various chilies.
Did you know that back in 1912, a chemist named Wilbur Scoville measured and recorded the amount of spicy heat in chilies? Through his Scoville Organoleptic Test, he measured the amount of capsaicin they contained. Common green bell peppers have a score of zero while, at the other end of the spectrum, the naga jolokia chilies from northeast India score 1,000,000 heat units. Below is an extract from his table of results for your reference:
Scoville Heat Units | Chillies |
15,000,000 – 16,000,000 | Pure capsaicin |
855,000 – 1,075,000 | Naga Jolokia |
100,000 – 350,000 | Habanero |
50,000 – 100,000 | Thai/Indian |
30,000 – 50,000 | Cayenne |
10,000 – 23,000 | Serrano |
2,500 – 8,000 | Jalapeño |
500 – 2,500 | Anaheim, Poblano |
100 – 500 | Pimento, Peperoncini |
0 | Bell Pepper |
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scoville_scale
Visit KachisKitchen.com for Indian recipes and cooking tips.
All text and photographic content are property of KachisKitchen.com and are not to be used without permission of the author.