A few relevant points made by Govindarajan in this 1985 paper[1]:
> Chilli or Chili, a name now commonly used in Asia and Africa, is said to have come from the Nahautl dialect of Mexico and Central America.
> The U.S. Government Standard divided Capsicum into types corresponding to commercial types; paprika, red pepper, ground and crushed. The term "chilli" is not generally used in the U.S., but is used in Britain, India, Africa, and the countries in the East.
> The British Standard Specifications, however, differentiate between chillies and capsicum, obviously based on the degree of pungency. It gives no values but describes "chillies" as pungent small fruits of certain forms of the species C. frutescens L. and describes Capsicum as of varied sizes, generally big, of the species, C. annuum L.
Interesting! I worked in an Indian food truck - owned by an Indian family - in Tucson, and we had "chili chicken" (with that spelling) on the menu. I wonder if they spelled it differently at some point.
In India, chili chicken (probably spelled chilli chicken) is an Indianised-Chinese dry starter or appetizer kind of dish, of small pieces of chicken stir-fried with a tangy dry coating / sauce that includes ginger, garlic and red chillies. You can get vegetarian versions too, like paneer chilli. That coating / sauce is really good. It has tiny solid bits and pieces of ginger and garlic which adds to the taste.
You get it in (Indian) Chinese or multi-cuisine restaurants.
