Green chillies, the most spiciest of our food items, add taste and spiciness to our food. They enhance the taste of the dish and give us the feeling of satiety. It is rightly said about them ‘the fire in the toungue and a tear in the eye’. Yet we keep eating them for their crunchy, spicy flavour, which is so irresistable. Capsiacin is the compound that is present in green chillies which gives its spiciness to the chillies. The amount of capsiacin present in the chillies determines the level of spiciness of chillies.
It is a practice in most road eateries and restaurants in India to provide onion and green chillies beside the main dish you order. Throughout India a variety of red and green chilli pickles is made which is very delicious to eat. These chillies are mixed with some citric agents such as tamarind, lemon, vinegar or aamchur (dry mango powder) and other ingredients to reduce the spiciness. In south India big green chillies are soaked in buttermilk and then dried in the sun. These are fried and eaten as side dish.
Some variety of chillies are so hot that they bring a lot of saliva into your mouth and give a lot of pain and even sweat. In many western countries pepper is used in place of chillies. Pepper gets mixed in the dish and the taste is spread evenly, whereas chillies are cut and the pieces remain as it is in the dish. So when you crush it with your teeth, the spicy juice is released and you will feel the need for water or curd for relief.
It is always good to use green chillies while cooking rather than red chilli powder, as red chilli powder is more spicy and can cause heart burn. Red chilli powder can be used in pickles and curry powder (masalas) etc. Though there are many health benefits of chillies, over-spicing the dish or excess of eating the hot chillies leads to burning sensation in stomach and chest and may create gastric problems. So use them moderately.
Some amazing health benefits
By Nibhanapudi Suguna
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