The Portuguese brought chillies to India from SA, before which they used black pepper for (obviously milder) heat.
That was a bit of a 'mind blown' moment for me when I saw it on Raja, Rasoi, aur apni Kahaaniyaan (kings, kitchens, and their stories^) - quite a nice food/history/culture programme, each episode being a different region in India.
(^to save someone pointing it out, it's actually 'king, kitchen, and his [or its] stories', I just thought that sounded more awkward, and confuses my description of it being a different region, sometimes king, food, culture etc. each episode.)
That was a bit of a 'mind blown' moment for me when I saw it on Raja, Rasoi, aur apni Kahaaniyaan (kings, kitchens, and their stories^) - quite a nice food/history/culture programme, each episode being a different region in India.
(^to save someone pointing it out, it's actually 'king, kitchen, and his [or its] stories', I just thought that sounded more awkward, and confuses my description of it being a different region, sometimes king, food, culture etc. each episode.)