Roadhouse Grill, at Double Tree by Hilton, New Delhi – Noida – Mayur Vihar, is celebrating the spiciness of chillies these days. Through a food fest named “Dare the Chillies”, it has created a menu of fiery dishes that has chillies from across the world. Chef Theodor Rudiferia says they are using chillies from the Amazonas region of Brazil to Nagaland in India.
It sounds more like a warning to me than an invitation to try out the dishes!
I find the menu short but worth trying. There are eight starters which have spice levels from mild to extremely spicy. When the Chef asks me to start with the spiciest, I play safe and instead go for the mild version first.
First, I encounter baked baby eggplants topped with braised chipotle chilli ragout. Chipotle is one of the mild chillies of Mexico. The chilli is quite good, so is the flavour of the baked eggplant.
Next comes the Tex Mex buffalo wings, again mildly spiced with Serrano chilli salsa. The wings are perfectly coated with a crisp layer. I enjoy the crunch while biting it.
Sensing my comfort with the mild level of spiciness, the Chef increases the chilli level in the subsequent dishes. Crisp fried vegetables and Habanero chilli ragout filled firecrackers are pretty tasty. Habanero is considered a good spicy chilli produced in the jungles of Amazonas. The Chef also makes for me some onion and green chilli fritters with Ancho chillies and Habanero. I am sure Delhiites would love this crispy pakora innovation.
After tasting these four dishes, the chillies begin to hit me a bit but the enthusiasm to taste the world’s spiciest food is much higher and I order the last two delicacies, vodoo chilli chicken fingers and the ghost chilli fritters, mentioned in the menu as “order at your own risk”.
The Chef advises me to go for the chicken fingers first as the chilli fritters are “too devastating.” Fried chicken fingers are crisp as one would find it in any other restaurant but it is the stuffing which is unique. Though it is mildly infused with ghost chilli (bhot jalakia from Nagaland), it is super spicy.
I take a bite of the chilli fritters next and tears startto roll from my eyes. Rightly then, the Naga chilli has been certified by The Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s spiciest chilli.
Meal for two - Rs.1000
(The food promotion is on till February end)
