Fiery hot dal, with the addition of over two hundred Basunti chillies;

Rajendra, our truck driver friend, recently celebrated his sons fifth birthday with a big celebration in his honour. This consisted of producing industrial quantities of food and then feeding the entire village. The son helped serve the hundreds of guests that arrived, which is customary in this type of Pooja.

The meal comprised of fried yeasted chapattis, vegetable dishes, Mutta Paneer, rice and various types of Dal. For the special guests, an extra spicy super hot Dal was served. This I tried with great trepidation, but mixed with a lot of rice it was really delicious.

What I enjoyed most, was that the chillies used in the concoction, were all grown from seeds that  came from Basunti. The local chillies are quite mild, so I crossed them with the Thai Birdseye variety. The new variety produced, has a slightly larger fruit than the Birdseye, but with a great flavour and a real fiery kick. This new variety is now spreading to all the villages in the area, as it is very hardy and crops heavily. Have decided to name these new type of chillies ” Basunti Burns”, after Basunti and Simon Burns, fisherman, friend and fellow chillie eater. Seeds available on request…