Red hot chilli pepper

I was told that this is an extremely hot chilli pepper. I was given just this one sample. I don't know what's this variety but if I'm correct, this may well turn out to be the famed Dorset Naga which is the hottest chilli in the world, measuring 1,598,227 Scoville Heat Units (SHU). It's a native plant of Nagaland in Bangladesh. I'll be trying to grow it. Already, I've snipped open the chilli and sown the seeds in a pot. I've also put the chilli to the tastebud test. Yes, it's true. It's extremely hot.


Oh, by the way, here are two humongously huge chilli peppers that I saw at the Gold Coast in Australia last month. I don't know how hot they are but knowing the average taste of Westerners, their chillies are usually nothing much to shout about.


Contrast them with the local favourite: the Malaysian chilli padi. Though they're small about 3cm long without the stalk), they pack a mighty mean wallop, measuring between 50,000 and 100,000 SHU. While not as potent as the Dorset Naga, by any measure that's enough to bring tears to many locals' eyes.


And this is the white variety of the Malaysian chilli padi. Still on the plant. They are equally potent.