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My sister and I did the P'haal challenge today. We each finished in about 20, maybe 25 minutes. She was sweating and her eyes were tearing. I didn't sweat but I actually had two bouts of dizziness, my hands shook a little and my ears clogged up for about two minutes towards the end. But we got through it pretty easily. Our trick was not to touch the water or any drink at ALL. The only thing we added was maybe 1/4 of the rice bowl.

MY trick was to save the chicken for the end. The sauce did NOT soak into the chicken and by the end the temperature had gone down considerably, so the chicken almost had a cooling effect.

I do NOT recommend anyone does this at the 53rd St. location - they don't have a liquor license so they gave us a coupon for a free beer...which we can redeem down on 6th St. So we have to go to the Village anyway. That was a big disappointment. They also didn't take our picture - we have to email it to the guy in the Village.

did it today. so proud. still burping up heat hours later and drinking some beers. worried about how i'm gonna feel in a few hours. we didn't use yogurt or milk or anything to pad the heat except for some rice and naan. i find a nice glass of coke helps a lot, maybe its the sugar or the carbonation? water does nothing. i actually enjoyed the taste of it too, but the worst part was that it's so hot it's hard to even think straight. my friend and i would be in mid sentence and just trail off, losing our concentration. my advice to those who want to try this: be sure that you really actually can tolerate heavy spice. i eat spicy food frequently but the sheer buildup of heat with this dish is very overwhelming. also don't rush yourself but don't fill up on acoutrements like bread because it is a very filling dish. also when you do finally finish, take your time and rest a bit. we really savored our free beers and within about half an hour we felt fine but full. great way to spend an afternoon though! and i must add that the service and quality of this restaurant is really good, especially for a 6th street indian joint. i'll definitely go back for other (less painful) dishes in the future.

Me and my buddy Mike are going there tomorrow to take on the challenge. We love all that is hot and will be sure not to dissapoint. I will chronicle our tale of heat heroics next week. Wish us luck. I hope we are not asking the waiter for a fire hose to put out the flames!

@foodie4life ~ Let me be the first to welcome you to SE. Lots of fun and great information with wonderful folks here.

I believe the vast majority agree with you regarding Gina Neely. What were they thinking? Pat seems like a great guy and the real cook. Unfortunately, I can't watch him because she gets on my last nerve.

Anyone else think Sunny Anderson is a Rachael Ray clone? Not as loud, obnoxious and annoying, but really close. Non-stop chatter and anecdotes are not necessary!!!! I long for real chefs and hope for more Anne Burrelll and others of her talent and ability.

I am so thrilled to see so many people jumping up against poor quality pet foods! Whoo!

Iams and Science Diet are no better at all, take a good look at the ingredients. Those prescription foods that are pushed at the vet are just the same. Raw is best, high-meat content, low or no additive/by-product/grain canned food second. There are a few decent dry foods, and dogs do slightly better on them as omnivores than carnivorous cats, but this food is SAD.
Nothing makes me crazier than seeing FOOD COLORING in pet food!! That is to aesthetically please HUMANS! Dogs are COLORBLIND and I can't imagine they would care if they weren't!

I see those ads for the cat foods that "Are just like what WE eat" with veggies and rices and grains....plus too much fish in everything. UGH!

I wonder if RR even has a clue, or if she is just the perky puppet for the marketing. I contacted her site about it, big long letter last night. Doubt she sees those though, just her people.

I would never buy this simply because the twee name makes me throw up slightly.

Nutrish - I'm surprised she didn't call it EVOO, or something other annoying thing she made up, like TB (trash bowl) or, Deeeeelish, jeese she needs to go away!

hc you have to be kidding! I just reread all of the ingredients and I am shocked that you think that the ingredients "aren't too bad". They are awful.
Anyone who knows about what not to feed their dog will understand.
There are dyes in the treats, artificial everything.
Horrible.
Artificial Color (Red #40, Yellow #5 & #6, Blue #2)!!
High Fructose Corn Syrup, Propylene Glycol !!
READ about Propylene glycol!!
amazingly poor. there is no excuse for her saying she loves animals and puts her name behind this.
It may be for" a good cause" but my first good cause is feeding my own dogs real food that is actually healthy, not the garbage that the commercial pet food industry poisons them with and now Rachel belongs to that group!

you mean, 30 minute meals is for humans?

I like that it will help at-risk animals, but that's about it.

If she was looking to build an empire, Martha Stewart would have been a good model to follow. Right now, all her "branching out" so frenetically is just looking like desperation to cash in before, as someone said upthread, her "bubble" bursts.

She's not branching out...she's been making dog food for years!

I would say get rid of the corn and corn gluten meal. I've never had a dog that could digest corn. Our Zoe is on Nature's Variety frozen raw lamb medallions but since we're in TX, she needs a hurricane food if we can't keep hers cold. After trying varieties of Solid Gold and other premium dry brands we were stranded during Hurricane Rita and got Purina Exclusive Lamb from a feed store and she likes it and will actually eat it! So we give some to her a few times a week to make sure her tummy can take it in case we get stuck again without electricity. Thanks, just joined your site!