Punjab Small Hot

Punjab Small Hot is an Indian Capsicum annuum chilli sold under a region-based catalogue name referring to Punjab rather than a documented traditional varietal name. It appears mainly in Western seed catalogues as a small, very hot chilli selected for cooking use.

Plants typically reach about 60–75 centimetres tall. Pods are pendant and slender, usually around 5–7.5 centimetres long and 6–9 millimetres wide, ripening from green to red. Harvest is commonly described as midseason, around 70–80 days after transplanting.

Heat is consistently described as very hot, though no lab-tested Scoville data exists for this exact named line. Online estimates generally place it between about 40,000 and 80,000 SHU. A single-value estimate of 60000 SHU is used here as a midpoint that matches repeated descriptions.

Punjab Small Hot is marketed for Indian cooking, particularly curries, chutneys and pickles, where small, thin, high-heat chillies are typically chopped, crushed or cooked into sauces. Despite the name, there is no clear evidence tying this pepper to a specific traditional Punjabi landrace or a documented breeding programme, and the name appears to function as a descriptive trade label rather than a historical variety.