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Green Chillies--Translation from UK to US English Needed

kentishman

kentishman

I like Indian food. Several recipes I have from British sources use the term Green Chillies. What variety of pepper is this? I hope some of you in the UK can clear this up for me. Is it a specific variety or just a generic term? After all, most peppers including Bell Peppers are green before they ripen.
 
Thanks, Tom
 
I would say 90% of the time they are referring to Anaheim's, or "Hatch Style". "Hatch" is a trademarked name like "Champagne" and "Kobe Beef". You can't use that name unless they were grown in the region of Hatch, New Mexico. You can buy canned "Green Chiles" diced or whole. Not much heat but damm tasty. Most grocery stores have them fresh also.
 
I agree with Scovie, they are probably using "Green Chile" as a generic term - meaning a long, relatively mild chile with a thick skin.  There are several varieties of Hatch or New Mexico style chiles.  The milder ones include Aneheims, the NuMex 6-4 and the Española Improved.  The hotter ones include NuMex Big Jim, Sandia and Barker's Hot.  
 
 
kentishman said:
I like Indian food. Several recipes I have from British sources use the term Green Chillies. What variety of pepper is this? I hope some of you in the UK can clear this up for me. Is it a specific variety or just a generic term? After all, most peppers including Bell Peppers are green before they ripen.
 
Thanks, Tom
Click to expand...
 
It could mean a few things. There is a large Indian grocery store about a block from my house that I frequent, and they stock a few different green chiles. They always have jalapenos, long green cayenne-types, and small green thai-types. I'm not positive, but I don't think I've ever seen new mexico types there. I could be wrong. I'll check later today if I remember to.
 
I'm betting some here could give you a more educated guess by looking at the actual recipes and how the chiles are used. Link(s)?
 
The following is a follow-up post to almost your same question on a cooking forum:
 
According to Madhur Jaffery, the green cayenne chilli is the main long green
chilli used in Indian cooking. She says the short bird's eyes get used too.
She says jalapenos and serranos are not always desirable. This is because
they have coarse seeds and Indian recipes rarely call for de-seeding.
Also, jalapenos and serranos are thicker skinned so not ideal for when
chillies are added toward the end of cooking.
Reference: Madhur Jaffery's Ultimate Curry Bible
 
Thanks muskymojo. I have my doubts that we're talking about the New Mexico Hatch types. They're not available here in South Carolina, so I seriously doubt they are available in the UK. Seems like we've got several members from the UK on the forum, so I'm interested in hearing from them.
 
U can grow green chile types, i'm growing the hottest type this year, numex barker.  Since i live in the four corners area we get hatch green chiles trucked up here and they roast them for you on the spot.  And they are yummy.  It's hard telling what type of green chile they grow from year to year.  Some years they have more heat and other years less heat.
 
Scoville DeVille said:
I would say 90% of the time they are referring to Anaheim's, or "Hatch Style". "Hatch" is a trademarked name like "Champagne" and "Kobe Beef". You can't use that name unless they were grown in the region of Hatch, New Mexico. You can buy canned "Green Chiles" diced or whole. Not much heat but damm tasty. Most grocery stores have them fresh also.
Click to expand...
 
Agreed "Anaheim's" or other Numex variants.
 
Pablano pepers are some times used as a hoter version in clasic dishes like chile relleno.
 
Pods from an Indian store in Europe (UK or ?,I forget)
These were the only ones the person could find in a semi ripe condition to get seeds from,they are used/sold green.
 

 
Though they look the same they weren't..
Some were hot,others weren't.All were slightly different in some way from each other.
 
These were actually 14 different chile types - had different names/bins at the market.
 
I also got a couple birds eye types but cannot find the pic.
 
I'd guess you would have to go to a market that gets their pods only from India sources in India to get the real thing.
I'd bet the markets selling new mex or whatever varieties are only using a substitute pepper because it's easier to get or cheaper and still sells.
 
I've seen HUGE piles in pics of peppers drying in the sun in India that look similar to my pic.
Never seen anything other than pods that look like my pic or a birds eye sold in the Indian markets I've been to.
Well until Bhuts,Nagas etc. showed up and became popular.
 
kentishman said:
Thanks muskymojo. I have my doubts that we're talking about the New Mexico Hatch types. They're not available here in South Carolina, so I seriously doubt they are available in the UK. Seems like we've got several members from the UK on the forum, so I'm interested in hearing from them.
Click to expand...
I doubt any recipe calling for "Green Chiles" from the UK is much hotter than a Green Bell... "pepper".
They don't like hot food (except for the few that are members here LOLOLOL).

WHAAAAAAAAAT? None of these are available in SC????

Time to MOVE bro!

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Scovy,
 
I didn't make myself too clear. Yeah, I can get the canned ones here, and I use them a lot. But fresh Hatch chiles aren't available here in SC, and I think the recipes I'm looking at call for some kind of fresh chile. And when it comes to Indian food, heat levels in the US don't always compare to the UK restaurants. I had a Vindaloo somewhere in Missouri as I recall, and it was barely hot. I asked the owner and was told they have to tone down the heat to suit the local palate. It was so mild it was a pale imitation of a Vindaloo. Now try a Vindaloo in Northern England, and it will set you free.
 
Tom
 
Fresh "Hatch" chiles aren't available much more than 300 miles away from Hatch, NM. Dammit! They have huge roasting barrels outside of every grocery store so when you are done shopping, you can toss them in there for a few minutes, and they are FRESH ROASTED!!!! AWWWW DAAAAMMMMM! They have many varieties also, and some rival the heat of a Habanero. (my mouth is watering now dammit LOL). But you can't even get fresh Anaheim's? weird. I was kidding about the Brits not liking hot food, but it is a relatively new thing for them, and here too I guess. I want to be set free with that Vindaloo. Please Gawd... take me now! hahahahaha
 
 
Smell this... LOL
 
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jedisushi06 said:
U can grow green chile types, i'm growing the hottest type this year, numex barker.  Since i live in the four corners area we get hatch green chiles trucked up here and they roast them for you on the spot.  And they are yummy.  It's hard telling what type of green chile they grow from year to year.  Some years they have more heat and other years less heat.
Click to expand...
 
Jedi, Where are you in CO? I had to work in Durango a couple of weeks ago. Made a trip down to Farmington, west to Shiprock, over to The Four Corners, and then Mesa Verde. Great country! Too bad it wasn't the right time for fresh roasted chiles.
 
On what planet are Poblanos hotter than most NuMex varieties? I've only had one really hot Poblano, and it was one I grew myself. Most of the ones I find are very, very mild. Most of the Mexican restaurants around here use only Poblanos for chile rellaňos. That is why I never order them - absolutely no heat.

Cayennemist said:
Pablano pepers are some times used as a hoter version in clasic dishes like chile relleno.
Click to expand...
 
I have had Poblanos the rival the heat of a Habanero. There is a local grower here that grows chiles of all types. He is the guy that Salsa Lady gets her Jalapeños from for her fresh Salsa, (75 lbs. a month). Anyway, his Poblanos are friggen HOT. He sells at the local Farmers market and I always come home with 5 lbs or so for Rellenos. Sooooo good. The poblanos at the grocery store are mild, more like green bells but with better flavor. I am sure they are different strains even tho they all look the same.
 
For true, not all of them are that hot but I kid you not, I have been plowing thru a pile of Rellenos and all of a sudden, one will just flame in my mouth. HOLY CRAP!

It's rare to get a "normal" mild one from Rubio the grower. They are so damm good.
 
Weird.  I may have to grow another batch of Poblanos then.  I usually don't grow them because you can get them in any grocery store, but the grocery store models have absolutely no heat. 
 
midwestchilehead said:
Weird.  I may have to grow another batch of Poblanos then.  I usually don't grow them because you can get them in any grocery store, but the grocery store models have absolutely no heat. 
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Yeah, but the grocery store Anaheims are even milder.
 
I thought to check with my brother in England to see what he could tell me about "Green Chillies". As luck would have it, he had some in his refrigerator he had used in the classic Indian Mulligatawny Soup. I got him to send me a photo, and they're nothing more than Jalapeno peppers! These were grown in Gambia and labelled as Medium. So, no mystery peppers after all, just plain old Jalapenos! At least I won't have a problem finding what I need when I cook up a curry using an English recipe.
 
Hi guys, here in the u.k we have a big Indian and Pakistani community who have a big chilli culture. Their standard green chillis are called something like 'pus a' and are incredibly hot (as hot as a supermarket hab) with an almost dish soap citrus flavour to them. If I go to my local Bangladeshi takeaway they have fresh naga curry in which , after some hard translating, they only infuse 1 chilly for a short time. Tastes amazing but hot as f##k. If anyone want seeds for the green cayenne type all I have to do is stop on the way home from work and grab a handful for about £1.
Good curries are the reason I got into growing
Cheers
Arran
 
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