Disguised like fresh little bright red fruits, are one of the hottest chillies of the world- the Naga Bhut Jolokia chilli. Bhut Jolokia chilli, meaning ghost chilli in Assamese, is a cross between the species Capsicum chinense and Capsicum frutescens. It is also called poison chilli, or Bih Jolokia in Assam and umorok/oomorok (tree chilli) in Manipur. They are grown mostly in Assam, Nagaland and Manipur and are used in pickles, curries and pastes in many North-eastern states. Indeed, Naga Bhut Jolokia chilli is the main star of the famous Naga Smoked Pork dish.
Unlike most chillies, bhut jolokia have the heat-producing molecules capsaicin in both the placenta around the seeds and throughout the fruit, rather than just in the placenta like most other chillies. The chillies are so potent that one is advised to use gloves while handling them, and just a dip of chilli into curry is enough heat for normal chilli-eaters like us! In fact, the heat is so high that it is smeared on farm fences to ward off elephants and DRDO was also working on chilli bombs using these chillies!