Phall

 

Phall is a British-Indian curry known for its intense heat, often considered the hottest curry in the world. It originated in Bangladeshi-owned curry houses of Birmingham, England. Phall is not found in Bangladesh, and I can’t find it on any restaurant’s menu in Chicago. How can I resist?

Another contender for the hottest curry in the world is Carolina Reaper Karahi, which appears to be offered at one Mancunian restaurant only, and only for a limited time, so I don’t think it counts as an established dish, plus I don’t have pure Carolina Reaper hot sauce, anyway.

I have a lot of hot sauces; some are a combination of ghost pepper, scorpion, and Carolina Reaper, which makes them even hotter, but the one Ghost Pepper hot sauce I used is fairly devoid of additional ingredients, and I didn’t really want to buy or handle ghost peppers. I made up for it with ghost pepper flakes in the spice mix.

The recipes I’ve seen use chicken breast. I prefer dark meat; I think dark meat has more flavor. This was a fairly quick dish. The most time consuming was cutting up the chicken.

• 1 skinless, boneless chicken thigh, cut into very small, almost chopped, pieces
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tblsp vegetable oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1/2 tblsp finely chopped ginger
• 3 tblsp cup chopped scallion
• 1/2 tblsp curry powder
• 1 tsp chili pepper powder
• 1 tsp cardamom
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tblsp Ghost Pepper flakes
• 4 tblsp tomato paste
• 1 tblsp pure Ghost Pepper hot sauce
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 tsp chicken bouillon powder
• hot, cooked basmati rice
• 1 lime, cut into wedges
• red pepper flakes to taste

1. Season the chicken with salt and pepper.
2. Heat the vegetable oil in a large pan to medium heat and sauté onions until soft.
3. Add the chicken and cook until mostly cooked through.
4. Set aside 1 tblsp of chopped scallion and add garlic, ginger, and the rest of the scallion to the pan. Sauté until the garlic is fragrant.
5. Add curry powder, chili pepper powder, cardamom, turmeric, cumin, tomato paste, hot sauce, water, and chicken bouillon powder. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes.
6. Ladle the curry over basmati rice.
7. Garnish with lime wedges, extra scallion, and red pepper flakes.