Tips for eating very, very hot curry

[bicycleshorts]

I've got a mate who's really into his spicy curries. He normally has Madras, Vindaloo etc. He's tried Phal on a couple of occasions, as well as the "curry hell" in Newcastle. He managed about half of all of these before he was defeated.

It's his birthday this weekend, so I've booked us into Kismot in Edinburgh, with their killer curry famous for hospitalising a couple of people last year during a competition.

I'd like to see him manage to finish it, does anyone have any tips for super hot curries? I was wondering if lining your stomach with milk would work!

[DanDC5]

Drink milk during eating it.

[Davey S2]

Or natural yoghurt.

[darreni]

bicycleshorts said:

I've got a mate who's really into his spicy curries. He normally has Madras, Vindaloo etc. He's tried Phal on a couple of occasions, as well as the "curry hell" in Newcastle. He managed about half of all of these before he was defeated.

It's his birthday this weekend, so I've booked us into Kismot in Edinburgh, with their killer curry famous for hospitalising a couple of people last year during a competition.

I'd like to see him manage to finish it, does anyone have any tips for super hot curries? I was wondering if lining your stomach with milk would work!

Don't.

I can't see how eating a curry hot enough to put you in hospital is a good night out.

[Marf]

The heat comes from the oil of the chillies. You need to dissolve that oil, so drinking something acidic like OJ would be your best bet.

Or perhaps eat something less hot that you can actually taste, rather than numbing your mouth by eating lava.

[bicycleshorts]

darreni said:

I can't see how eating a curry hot enough to put you in hospital is a good night out.

Marf said:

Or perhaps eat something less hot that you can actually taste, rather than numbing your mouth by eating lava.

Yup! But bare in mind it's all relative, I like reasonably spicy stuff but probably couldn't manage a Vindaloo. This guy can demolish them, so this is the equivalent of 'upping the spice' a bit for him...

Milk and yoghurt are good calls, I seem to remember him getting a bowl of fresh yoghurt with one of the Phals. Wondering if a lassi would also be a good addition.

Hadn't thought of OJ, will look into that a bit more!

[Mandatory Fields]

bicycleshorts said:

I've got a mate who's really into his spicy curries. He normally has Madras, Vindaloo etc. He's tried Phal on a couple of occasions, as well as the "curry hell" in Newcastle. He managed about half of all of these before he was defeated.

It's his birthday this weekend, so I've booked us into Kismot in Edinburgh, with their killer curry famous for hospitalising a couple of people last year during a competition.

I'd like to see him manage to finish it, does anyone have any tips for super hot curries? I was wondering if lining your stomach with milk would work!

Just get a madras or something from there, don't go for the sit-in-only challenge they do.

You'll be in agony and it won't be fun or funny.

[Flibble]

Marf said:

The heat comes from the oil of the chillies. You need to dissolve that oil, so drinking something acidic like OJ would be your best bet.

Or perhaps eat something less hot that you can actually taste, rather than numbing your mouth by eating lava.

Acids don't dissolve oils though; you want something like milk or yoghurt as the milk proteins (specifically casein) bind to the capsaicin which will reduce the sensation of heat.

[Marf]

Fair enough, I've always found that OJ was more effective than milk.

[blearyeyedboy]

Chilli is an alkali and oil soluble. You need oily foods to dissolve chilli in to wash it off your tongue (e.g., milk or yoghurt) or acidic foods to neutralise the alakali (e.g., lemon juice or vinegar).

[vixen1700]

darreni said:

I can't see how eating a curry hot enough to put you in hospital is a good night out.

Me neither.

[blearyeyedboy]

vixen1700 said:

darreni said:

I can't see how eating a curry hot enough to put you in hospital is a good night out.

Me neither.

Alkali burns. Seriously.

[bicycleshorts]

Mandatory Fields said:

Just get a madras or something from there, don't go for the sit-in-only challenge they do.

You'll be in agony and it won't be fun or funny.

I will be, my mate wants to try it though... Looking for tips to get him through.

I imagine it'll be very fun and funny for us

[SeanyD]

bicycleshorts said:

Mandatory Fields said:

Just get a madras or something from there, don't go for the sit-in-only challenge they do.

You'll be in agony and it won't be fun or funny.

I will be, my mate wants to try it though... Looking for tips to get him through.

I imagine it'll be very fun and funny for us

I had a mate who tried the Newcastle Curry Hell, and it was neither fun or funny, pretty much ended the night out for him there and then, couldn't eat or drink anything afterwards, so brought the night to a swift close.

Yes it's funny now, thinking back, but it did dampen the night.

[bicycleshorts]

SeanyD said:

I had a mate who tried the Newcastle Curry Hell, and it was neither fun or funny, pretty much ended the night out for him there and then, couldn't eat or drink anything afterwards, so brought the night to a swift close.

Yes it's funny now, thinking back, but it did dampen the night.

How much did he manage? This chap got about half way through before he hit the wall. Couldn't believe how hot that thing was, it singed my nostrils just sitting next to him.

[SeanyD]

bicycleshorts said:

SeanyD said:

I had a mate who tried the Newcastle Curry Hell, and it was neither fun or funny, pretty much ended the night out for him there and then, couldn't eat or drink anything afterwards, so brought the night to a swift close.

Yes it's funny now, thinking back, but it did dampen the night.

How much did he manage? This chap got about half way through before he hit the wall. Couldn't believe how hot that thing was, it singed my nostrils just sitting next to him.

We'd had a few beers before hand, so he didn't think before scooping a lump of nann into it and chucking a mouthful in. That was all he managed, and that was the end of the evening.

[Mastodon2]

Me and my friend went to the Curry Capital restaurant in Newcastle a few years ago, we all ordered regular, edible curries and had a bowl of curry hell to share. None of us managed more than a few mouthfuls of it before it was game over - it's very hot. It didn't ruin our night by making us sick, but I think if any of us had consumed a significant portion of it we'd have been written off.

Best tip I reckon is to shovel it down. Aim to finish it within 3 minutes, before the burn has reached it's full intensity. This is dangerous however, as you end up with a large amount of extremely spicey food in your guts as you've packed it down before your brain said "no" to the burning in your mouth. This then leads to the extreme gastro-intestinal distress that hospitalises people. Ram it down, leave the restaurant quickly and try not to be sick before you are off the premises!

[GG89]

Stick a bog roll in the fridge for later

[tr7v8]

SeanyD said:

bicycleshorts said:

Mandatory Fields said:

Just get a madras or something from there, don't go for the sit-in-only challenge they do.

You'll be in agony and it won't be fun or funny.

I will be, my mate wants to try it though... Looking for tips to get him through.

I imagine it'll be very fun and funny for us

I had a mate who tried the Newcastle Curry Hell, and it was neither fun or funny, pretty much ended the night out for him there and then, couldn't eat or drink anything afterwards, so brought the night to a swift close.

Yes it's funny now, thinking back, but it did dampen the night.

I managed between a 1/3rd to half of it before stopping, I could have finished it but was in digs in North SHeilds with a shared bog & decided it wouldn't go down too well with my landlady. It was fine.... Some of the people I was with were gagging on the smell & a couple dipped the prongs of their forks in & tried it!

[chrisispringles]

Don't drink ginger beer with it. That makes it orders of magnitude worse.