Restaurant invents heatwave-busting curry

GATESHEAD, U.K. - July 22, 2013 - PRLog -- A NORTH restaurant has cooked up the perfect recipe to beat the heatwave . . . a super spicy curry!

The special dish – called Chilled Out Chilli Chicken – is packed with fresh and fiery ingredients that are sure to have customers mopping their brows.

But far from sending temperatures soaring like the weather, the dish is guaranteed to cool diners down.

The heatwave-busting recipe was created by the head chef of Raval Luxury Indian Restaurant, in Gateshead.

Owner Avi Malik, said: “Eating a very hot and spicy dish might seem like an unlikely way to cool down, but it really does work.

“Over the past two weeks, a number of our customers have told us how they are struggling with the heat.

“So we decided to come up with a dish that would be tasty and cooling, similar to the food that is popular in the south of India, but with extra kick.”

Tucking into a meal laced with chillies might seem a counter-intuitive way of lowering your temperature, but the method is backed by science.

Curries contain capsaicin, a heat compound in chilli peppers, which stimulates sweat production.

Angela O’Sullivan, professor of nutrition at Leicester’s De Montfort University, explained: “A spicy curry will cool you down because as you eat your body temperature is raised and the body sweats, which is where you get the feeling of coolness from.”

Mike Tipton, professor of human physiology at the University of Portsmouth, agrees.

He said: “Anything you can do to make sure you are sweating means you will enhance evaporative heat loss. As the water evaporates, you will feel cooler.”

Mr Malik added: “We’ve spent the past few days perfecting our Chilled Out Chilli Chicken recipe, which uses fresh ingredients and exotic spices.

“Although it’s hot, it’s also extremely flavoursome because of the addition of coconut milk which blends wonderfully with the rich spices.”

The restaurant, which overlooks the Tyne Bridge, will be serving the cooling creation as a speciality for as long as the heatwave lasts.