I am a bit of a chilli-head, I really do like hot food, but I like it if there is flavour as well, I don’t like hot for the sake of it!

Last Christmas, Santa brought me a very hot sauce, I can only enjoy a few drops of it per meal – but I do really enjoy them!
However… Not even I could manage this!
Doctor eats world’s hottest curry… and it’s so violent he gets hallucinations and chefs have to wear goggles to make it
- Consultant radiologist Ian Rothwell, 55, took over an hour to finish the dish
- Took walk outside when hallucinations hit but returned to finish in tears
- It is stuffed with 20 Naga Infinity Chillis and ranks 6m units on Scoville Scale
- 300 people have failed to eat the dish at Bindi restaurant in Grantham, Lincs
- Bindi’s director says others have left sweating, crying, shaking and vomiting
By MATT BLAKE
A British doctor has become the first person to finish the world’s hottest curry at a UK restaurant – despite suffering hallucinations brought on by the dish. Consultant radiologist Ian Rothwell, 55, took over an hour to eat ‘The Widower’ curry – which tops six million units on the Scoville Scale and is hotter than a drink of anti-riot tear gas. The curry, which is filled with 20 Naga Infinity Chillis – the second hottest on the planet – is so dangerous to make it has to be prepared by chefs wearing goggles and a face mask.
But Dr Rothwell became the first out of 300 people to successfully tackle the curry at the Bindi restaurant in Grantham, Lincolnshire, on Thursday evening – and said completing the challenge was harder than when he climbed Mount Kilimanjaro last year.
Before: Consultant radiologist Ian Rothwell, 55, had to sign a disclaimer acknowledging his awareness of the risks involved with eating the curry before getting stuck into the chicken dish – washed down with a bottle of Cobra lager After signing a disclaimer acknowledging his awareness of the risks involved with eating the curry, Dr Rothwell got ate the chicken dish with a bottle of Cobra beer.
Despite walking out of the restaurant half-way through after suffering hallucinations, he returned a short time later when his wife found him wandering along the high street. And fighting back tears for another hour, Dr Rothwell finally managed to swallow the last mouthful to defeat the dish.
‘I like hot curries and have at least one a week, but this was off the scale,’ he said. ‘It took me about an hour to eat it and I had to stop half way through and go out for a walk and some fresh air. ‘My wife and the owner were quite worried and said I was hallucinating, but I managed to go back inside and finish the curry.’
Mr Rothwell decided to take up the challenge after his daughter Alice’s boyfriend told him his friends had failed to eat the hot curry.
It took him more than an hour to eat the curry dish, which he washed down with mouthfuls of cobra beer and a small amount of rice.
‘I trained as a doctor in Leeds and later as a radiologist in Manchester, so as a student I got used to eating curries as they were cheap,’ he said. ‘This curry got hotter and hotter as I went on and it was a struggle to finish, but I was determined to succeed. ‘The owner offered me a glass of milk to help with the hotness, but I decided to stick with beer and I think that helped. I had to take a short break and go for a walk as I felt really sweaty and the owner said I was hallucinating, but I think it was just the endorphins from all the chillis.’
His daughter Alice, 23, said they all tried the curry but could only manage half a teaspoon. ‘I knew it was hot when dad admitted it was rather hot as he never does that,’ she said. ‘But he seemed to manage it without many problems. We were all clutching our stomachs after just half a teaspoon, it blew my head off.’
Muhammed Karim, managing director and executive chef at the restaurant said: ‘It took Mr Rothwell just over an hour to eat The Widower – but that included a 10 minute walk down Grantham High Street when he started hallucinating.
‘More than 300 people have tackled The Widower before – including about 10 women – but no one has ever been able to finish one. Most manage about seven mouthfuls before they give up. We’ve had people sweating, crying, shaking and vomiting. We even had to ring an ambulance once. The dish contained 20 Naga chillies, which is the second hottest chilli in the world at over six million Scovilles after the Trinidad Moruga Scorpion’
Mr Karim said Dr Rothwell, who is a regular curry eater from Sudbrooke, excelled at the culinary challenge. He added: ‘Apart from spotting a few tears in his eyes, and the short period of hallucinating, he was cool and collected and seemed to cope very well. I have tried The Widower and it really is a killer. Even making it is a painful experience – despite wearing goggles and a protective face mask. Dr Rothwell is a legend as far as I’m concerned.’
A WIDOWER CURRY: THE RECIPE
- 20 infinity naga chillies, (about 4 million Scovilles)
- 1 small tea spoon of pure naga extracts (6 million Scovilles)
- 5 scotch bonnets
- 8 finger chillies
- 3 tea spoons of extra hot chilli powder
- Bindi spice mix
- Chopped onions
- Tablespoon of salt
Before: Consultant radiologist Ian Rothwell, 55, had to sign a disclaimer acknowledging his awareness of the risks involved with eating the curry before getting stuck into the chicken dish – washed down with a bottle of Cobra lager After signing a disclaimer acknowledging his awareness of the risks involved with eating the curry, Dr Rothwell got ate the chicken dish with a bottle of Cobra beer.
It took him more than an hour to eat the curry dish, which he washed down with mouthfuls of cobra beer and a small amount of rice.


Holy cow! I am not sure I could go that hot. I do love curry though, yum!
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I love curry too – luckily my husband makes spectacular curries at home – he doesn’t like it too hot though, he’s on the wimp end of the hot scale!
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Hi Lois, I’m a pepper-head myself and love it. Hey have you tried Dave’s Total Insanity Sauce? It’s much more flavorful than the Ultimate Sauce, due to the garlic, but definitely not as hot. I’m wincing how his bottom’s gonna feel the morning after, LOL! 😀
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Ooooh, no I haven’t, I’ll look out for it. My actual favourite is one by Marie Sharp – it’s green and quite limey, hot but not burn your a*** off!
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Flames! I planted some peppers a couple of years ago–and dried them. Decided to grind them in the food processor and just the smell drove everyone–including animals–out of the house. Gak! Hot!
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I had a similar experience with horse radish – do you know it? It’s a root and makes a delicious cold sauce which goes with roast beef… I tried to make my own… I ended up looking as if I was conducting an experiment for germ warfare, bandana round face, sun glasses, rubber gloves… and then it didn’t taste very nice after all that!
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I love horseradish—whew sinus clearing. I have heard of apartment buildings having to evacuate because of people like us.
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Bindi now sells the widower as a ready made sauce , try a jar with your friends and let us know what you think.
For more info see our website
http://www.bindirestaurant.com
Tweeter @bindirestaurant
Email binditm@gmail.com
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