Hurrah! We sent a pot of our delicious Chillimanjaro to The Chilli Geeks and they wrote us a brilliant review - they LOVED it!

They wrote:

If the name ‘Bongo’s Rock and Roll Pickles’ doesn’t grab your attention, I don’t know what will! Introducing, Chillimanjaro!

Bongo’s Rock and Roll Pickles are a fairly new chilli company who we found via reading up on the Chester Food, Drink and Lifestyle festival and started following on Twitter. Now a company who uses ‘Rock and Roll’ in their name are instantly pretty cool, but their tag line ‘A groove of Gastronomy’ made them someone who we we’re very interested in. We chatted about how they’d got on at their first festival (very well!) and they kindly sent us a jar of their best seller, Chillimanjaro, to try out.

First off, the jar is absolutely amazing. I don’t think we’ve ever seen such a brightly coloured label and this really stands out a mile. The background image is of green chillies which makes a change from the usual plain backgrounds and the red, bold text really stands out against it. It’s certainly a ‘rock and roll’ looking pickle! Chillimanjaro is a hot Indian pickle, with the recipe developed from Bongo’s time growing up in India. Looking at the pickle, it’s clear that Chillimanjaro is Indian as it has that beautiful chunky texture and lots of chilli that you get with an authentic Indian pickle. You can  see lots of whole green chillies in the pickle as well as small chunks of garlic. It’s got a light red colouring to it which works brilliantly against the red label and really helps to grab your attention. Chillimanjaro has also got a pretty awesome name too! It rolls off the tongue and everyone knows of Mount Kilimanjaro, the dormant volcano, so naming it after something explosive and pretty damn hot is a cool idea.

Consistency wise it’s a mix between chunky chillies, tomato puree and the spices and the sunflower oil which runs around the pickle creating some awesome patterns. The oil is rather red from the pickle which looks great and when you dip you’re spoon into the pickle you get a fair amount of the oil mixed in. Normally I wouldn’t really like something with so much oil, but this is just right for this pickle and it works great (apart from when you accidently tip your cracker and end up with oily hands!)

I loved the smell of this as soon as I opened it. It’s got a very authentic Indian fragrance and reminds me of when we walk past our local Indian restaurant and end up craving curry! I can really smell the lemon and the spices and it reminds me a little of the lime pickle we’ve had before in restaurants. That pickle has never had such a high quantity of chilli though and these once are clearly visible throughout! I can’t particularly recognise a chilli heat in the fragrance of the pickle but the ‘Indian’ fragrance almost relates of a notion of heat anyway.

It’s got a beautiful zesty heat along with the tomato, but this is a pickle which wouldn’t go amiss in a traditional Indian household. I was amazed at the taste as soon as I tried it as the flavours of the spices and chilli work beautifully together to create in incredible taste sensation. I can really see why they call it ‘A groove of Gastronomy’! The heat from the chilli hit in pretty quickly and a lot hotter than I expected. While it’s only green chillies and crushed chilli, it’s got a heck of a lot of heat. I think people expect green chilli to be milder, but these certainly aren’t! A searing heat exploded in my mouth and very quickly spread across my lips and tongue, much like I imagine lava would after exploding from a volcano! The heat did seem to rise too and Lewis exclaimed at one point ‘it gets hotter as I breath, perhaps I should stop doing that!’ Though the initial burn in my mouth only lasted for a few minutes, my lips are still on fire and I feel like I’ve had botox. It’s not an unpleasant sensation and as it dies down it’s more like a tingle than a burn. The chilli pieces add extra crunch to the pickle which I really liked and gives it another layer of heat as you bite into one. Chillimanjaro has got both a beautiful flavour and an amazing heat.

If you’re looking for a hot, authentic Indian pickle, look no further than Chillimanjaro. Its flavour and heat are perfect for having in or alongside curry, on sandwiches or with cheese and crackers!"

Thanks Guys! We're so pleased that you liked it and thanks for your review, it's greatly appreciated!

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