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Man becomes first ever to eat world's hottest curry

Hallucinates midway through "The Widower"

Man becomes first ever to eat world's hottest curry

By Marc Chacksfield

04 January 2013

A doctor has become the first person to eat an entire plateful of the world's hottest curry - 10,000 times hotter than a bottle of tabasco sauce.

Ian Rothwell, 55, started hallucinating halfway through eating the fiery Widower chicken curry, which hits a whopping six million Scovilles.

The dish at the Bindi Indian restaurant in Grantham, Lincs, consists of around 20 Naga Infinity chillis - the second hottest on the planet.

One Infinity chilli is more than 200 times hotter than a jalapeno and can reduce a grown man to tears and cause mouth blisters and burns.

More than 300 people have tried the eye-watering curry - which the chef prepares wearing goggles - but Mr Rothwell, a consultant radiologist from Sudbrooke, Lincs, is the only one to have finished it.

"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 halfway 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."

Mr Rothwell had to sign a disclaimer before eating the curry which cost £20 and said his wife, Christine, was really worried. At the end of the challenge he was rewarded with a certificate.

"I had to sign to say I didn't suffer from any heart conditions, which was a bit worrying," he added.

"I'm glad I managed the challenge, but I wouldn't do it again."

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 Bindi, said Mr Rothwell had done well.

"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.

"Apart from 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. Mr Rothwell is a legend as far as I'm concerned."

The Naga infinity chills in the curry are grown by Fire Foods, based in Grantham, Lincs and were created by chilli breeder Nick Woods. They have a heat rating of 1,067,286 on the Scoville scale.

PHOTOS BY: Geoffrey Robinson / Rex Features