Naga Morich

Also known as the snake or serpent chili, this pepper is native to North East India and the Sylhet region of Bangladesh. The Naga Morich is an extremely hot pepper, but has a flavor that is quite unique. Genetically, the serpent chili is closely related to both the Ghost pepper (Bhut Jolokia) and the Dorset Naga. Like the Bhut Jolokia (Ghost Pepper), it has a sweet and slightly tart flavor, followed by slight undertones of woody, smoky flavors.

Traditionally the Bangladeshi people will impart the heat of the serpent chili into their culinary dishes by cutting open one of the immature, green chilies and rubbing it on to the foods they are preparing.

The thin walled wrinkled pods have a high degree of variability in shape although they are generally wedge shaped with three locules and average about 2 inches long by 1 inch wide. They ripen from a rich green through to yellow/orange and finally to a bright red approximately 120 days after transplanting. Plants are large and bushy.

It is used sparingly in Bengali cookery and is thought to originate from Northern Bangladesh.