It is believed that chillies were originated in 7000 B.C. in Mexico and they are also known as hot peppers. Chilly is a versatile spice that has got an amazing flavour. It is believed that Mexicans adopted it as their real spice for food and its major cultivation began from 3500 B.C.

It is believed that Christopher Columbus when was returning from Spain described chillies as “Chile pepper”. He was actually going to India to get spices from there at first but landed to an unknown place which is now known as America. He was credited the discovery of America in 1493 and he mistook America for India there.

He also misunderstood that the green chillies that he found were actually the black pepper and hence gave it the name Chile pepper. Now when he got a treasure of chillies in his hands, so he took them all back to his country Spain where this spice gained a lot of fame. Columbus was responsible for the spread of this valuable spice in the entire world and also some part was played by the Portuguese too.

When chilli got spread in all the European countries, it became a substantive spice of all the European cuisines. Vasco-Da-Gama who was an explorer of the Portuguese blessed India with this spice by bringing it to the Indian shores for its growth and cultivation in the year 1498.

After India, North America was used for spreading chilli plantations there and seeds were sown with great care and attention. After that there took a revolution in the growth of different breeds of chillies and to support its better growth, various experiments on chillies began in 1888 for their cross breeding. Soon Anaheim was grown in 1906, which was a new variety of chilli and was loved by all. Later various unattackable breed of Mexican Chile were also evolved.

Various tests and experiments were conducted to measure and know the pungency and the spiciness of the chillies and the most accurate of all of them was the Scoville Organoleptic Test that was conducted by a pharmacist Wilbur L. Scoville.

Chillies are interesting spices that add flavours to the food but without spoiling its texture. In fact, they have a medicinal value due to the presence of Vitamin C that help in metabolism of iron in our body. Chillies also play a vital role in ayurveda as they act as quick pain relievers and help in digestion also.

Today more than 400 species of chillies are known to the world. The hottest chilli known till date is grown in India in Assam in a small town named as Tezpur. It is named as Naga Jolokia and is grown there since the very beginning when Vasco-da-Gama brought it to India.

Chillies have made an important place for them in all the Indian cuisines and now it is hard to imagine Indian food without the presence of chillies in them. India is today contributing to 25% of the world’s total chilli production and with this it has become the largest producer and exporter of chillies in the world.

Author Bio: 600 of the best chili recipes

Category: Culture
Keywords: best chili recipes