In hot pursuit of India's 'ghost pepper'  Story Image  The heat
of the ghost pepper isn't imaginary.  Every now and again, heat-
seeking chili-heads discover a new pepper that is heralded as
the "hottest."  Heat is measured in Scoville units. The most
recent contender for hottest pepper was the red savina at
600,000 SUs.  For comparison, a jalapeno tops out at 8,000 SUs.
The ghost pepper, also known as the California death pepper and
less sensationally as the naga or bhut jolokia, redlines at a
tongue-blistering 1.5 million SUs.  Chef Ranjana Bhargava, who
teaches traditional Indian cooking classes in the Chicago area,
told me the ghost pepper is most common in the cuisine of
Bengal, where it's been used in local dishes for years but is
only now gaining international notoriety.  Though no heat freak,
I wanted to experience the hottest pepper, just because it's
there.  At Kama Indian Bistro, 8 W. Burlington in La Grange, I
took the plunge and sampled ghost pepper sauce over lamb.  The
first tentative taste was