On a day already unbearably hot, four people stood before a small crowd and lit their tongues on fire, shoving down specially concocted spicy crepes.

Onlookers at the Festival Of South Asia cheered them on, though there appeared to be a collective relief that they were not the ones eating.

The dosas — made from rice and black lentils — at the eating competition final in Little India were six to seven times spicier than the spicy option the organizing restaurant normally sells. It is described as the sort of spiciness that hits you only after you swallow — but the competitors on Gerrard St. E. had to return to the crepes again and again to claim victory.

To the uninitiated, it would be torture to the tastebuds, but to the winner, it was just a Sunday snack.

Erica Johnston, 27, who had never before eaten a dosa, describes the hotness only as “medium,” adding that “They could have been spicier.”

She dethroned last year’s champion after two rounds and downing five dosas, emerging the first female winner of the competition, marking its eighth year.

“My grandfather’s actually from Pakistan,” Johnston told the Star after her victory. “He would make me a lot of spicy food growing up.”

She added that she found out about the competition from Facebook and made absolutely no preparation.

“I thought, ‘I would win!’ So, I decided to come.”

The competition was organized and hosted by the South Indian restaurant Udupi Palace, which claims to hold the only such contest in the world. Contestants must cram as many spicy dosas down as they can in two minutes, and the two who eat the most from each preliminary round advance to the final. The winner gets $100 cash and gift certificates; the runner-up, just the latter.

Hubert D’Mello, the restaurant’s owner, said the event started off as a fundraiser for the Hospital for Sick Children.

A date for the next competition hasn’t yet been announced, but a friendly rivalry already appears to be building up. Both Johnston and the incumbent she usurped said they hope to return.

“Winners never quit,” said Neeraj Kumar, 37, who came in second this year, adding that he will try to eat spicier foods to prepare.

“Sometimes, when I feel like I’m angry, I want to eat spicier. Fire kills fire.”

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