Manhattan man grows world’s hottest chili for ‘Killer Sauce’

NEW YORK - A Manhattan man is growing the world’s hottest chili, Naga jolokia, in the hopes of marketing it in the form of a spicy homemade sauce.

Jeff Blaine, 53, is growing the chilli, which has been deemed by the Guinness Book of World Records to be zestiest on the planet, in his upper West Side apartment.

“It’s very, very hot,” the New York Daily News quoted Blaine as saying.

“How hot is hot? You can hallucinate from this chilli,” he explained.

The self-confessed “chili-head” began cultivating the pepper, some 400 times spicier than Tabasco sauce, for personal consumption.

But now, together with friend and restaurant owner Satish Sehgal, 62, he plans to spread the heat by selling the spiciest homemade sauce in the city.

“We want to call it ‘Killer Sauce’ but we’re afraid - if you’re not used to this, it can be dangerous,” Blaine said.

“It’ll be easy - there’s such a high demand for heat like this,” he said.

Blaine started growing the ghost chili, which originates from the state of Assam in India, in his backyard in September 2008 after buying seeds online.

He moved the plant indoors so it could survive the brutal New York winter, which then presented an unforeseen problem - the loss of natural predators to attack insects on the plants.

“I had to get ladybugs,” he said.

“I ordered 600 in two parcels. I had ladybugs all over the house! ut they did a great job,” he stated.

By last summer, Blaine had hundreds of his own smoking-hot chilies ready to harvest, and reckons he now has enough to make 500 jars of sauce.

Blaine’s own palette has become so accustomed to spice he rarely leaves home without packing some heat.

“If I have the chilies around, I’ll take them with me almost every time I eat out. I cut a sliver and eat it with my food,” he said.

“I can still taste nonchili food, but I just like it that way,” he added. (ANI)