In Reply to: India posted by Chris on Thursday, 17. February 2005 at 12:16 Bali Time:
More than 75% of Indians are vegetarians, who don't eat meat. Chilli is widely used in India, imho, because its cheap and used as a substitute for other more expensive spices like cummins seeds, coriander seeds, black pepper, garlic, ginger, etc. The chillies also add a bit of zing to the food ;-)