Naga Ghost Chilli

A 10g bag of Naga Ghost Chillies.

The Naga Ghost chilli, cultivated in India, also known as the Bhut Jolokia, is three steps behind the Trinidad Scorpion, having been certified the hottest chilli pepper in the world in 2007. It is four hundred times hotter than Tabasco sauce. The Bhut Jolokia at 1,041,427 million scoville heat units makes it a good place to start.

How hot is the Naga Ghost?

Compare the Naga Ghost to the intense heat of a habanero or scotch bonnet and you'll find it 4 to 8 times hotter - hot enough that the Indian government have incorporated it into their military defence grade smoke bombs. Local residents squash the Naga Ghost chilli pepper on fences and walls to keep straying wild animals off their land.