Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Chillie plant, Home garden, Avissawella, Sri Lanka.


The Chillie plant was native to South America. It was brought to Sri Lanka by the Portuguese in the 16th century AD. Even now a pungent variety of this plant is called 'Kochchi miris' in Sinhalese and 'Kochchikkkai' in Tamil. This recalls the time when it was brought from Cochin, South India a former Portuguese enclave.
Black pepper which was exported from Sri Lanka for more than 2000 years was native to Sri Lanka and is called 'Gammiris'  - Gamey miris - in Sinhalese meaning the local variety.
Chillie has 'capsicaine' and is used in ointments as a counter irritant, to relieve pain.

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