Bangalore Torpedo Chilli

A southern Indian heritage chilli, grown and selected around Bangalore for generations. The pods are long and slender, 10 to 15cm, some running as straight tapered cones and others curling into the pig's tail twist that gives the variety its name. They ripen light green to a vivid red and the plant carries dozens at a time.

Heat sits in the medium range, roughly 10,000 to 30,000 Scoville units. Hot by British supermarket standards, comfortable enough for everyday cooking. The flavour is the clean sharp southern Indian profile, which is the whole reason to grow it. If you cook Indian food seriously this is the right ingredient rather than an approximation of it.

The thin walls make it one of the best chillies here for drying, which is its traditional use. String the ripe red pods and hang them somewhere warm and dry and they will dry in days without losing flavour, ready for grinding, crushing to flakes, or dropping whole into tempering oil with mustard seeds and curry leaves. Home-dried pods hold their heat and character far better than anything bought in a jar. It is open-pollinated, so seed saved from your best fruits comes true.