Once upon a time I made the mortal mistake of slicing a chilli and then rubbing my itchy eye. I propose that the pain factor is on par with a stinging nettle thrust into the eyeball. Coming from a chilli-mad family I was almost as irritated as my weeping red eye that I hadn’t been forewarned to never ever let this happen. And never will it happen again (I hope).
Other activities to avoid after handling chillies:
Blowing your nose
Cutting your nails
Scratching any sort of itch on your body, nor anyone else’s for that matter
Petting the dog/cat/bird/domestic rodent
Squeezing your spots- you shouldn’t be doing this one anyway
Going to the bathroom- you really don’t want to do that
Your fingers will be glad to hear (?) that with this recipe there is no contact with the inside of the chilli and the whole thing is used, so no wastage. Eating whole chillies may sound completely insane and lethal but you should know that once you eat one chilli and enjoy it, the next time you’re probably going to want it to be hotter… and so on, and so on, and so on. It’s a bit like building up resistance or immunity, which is great because chillies (in moderation) are great for the body.
Whole Chillies in a Zingy Mustard Yogurt
Ingredients
1 ½ cups thin green chillies (the kind of chilli you use is completely up to you)
2 cups Greek yogurt (I used Total)
2 tsp whole mustard seeds soaked in hot water for 5 minutes
2 ½ tbsp English mustard
1 small pinch turmeric
1 small pinch asafoetida (optional)
½ tsp-1 tsp salt (or according to taste)
1 tbsp lemon juice
Method
This will last weeks and weeks in the fridge (covered) because the thick, sour yogurt will envelope the whole chillies in a protective little blanket. So don’t worry, you won’t need to eat all of those babies in one go.*
*Please don’t actually try to do that because KO Rasoi refuses to be liable for the many hideous repercussions.
Shema George
Tuesday 25th of September 2012
these look amazing...i love green chilly..will try this out soon :) when you get time, you can visit my space..I am also a food blogger :)
Ambika
Sunday 4th of March 2012
So beautiful! Have never heard of this. Gorgeous photos as always Snajana. Loved your new blog layout, am visiting you after a long time today!!
Rituparna
Friday 2nd of September 2011
OMG how could I forget about this after having book marked it. I am not a chilli fan at all but my sister would love to have a jar of this tucked away in her refrigerator. N even though we Indian's don't gift chilli's wouldn't this be just lovely for a friend who is a chilli maniac.
Turmericnspice
Tuesday 9th of November 2010
almost missed reading this post since i was so busy drooling over your triclr barfis...
I am not sure if i wld be brave enough to eat the chilies...but will try it with some bellpepers.. have never bitten into a raw chili...but i LOVE spicy food. I think in a few weeks the chili should be good soaking in all the yogurt. Might just get brave:)And ya...i know the pain of of slicing a chilli and then rubbing an itchy eye...i think some point of time we have all done this :)
Sanjana
Thursday 4th of November 2010
You guys are great! Thank you so much.
Travis- I would love to! Email me at sanju(underscore)modha(at)hotmail(dot)co(dot)uk with deatils.