# Those who dislike indian food. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 1, 2010, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-who-dislike-indian-food/559064 "2010-11-01T06:31:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![The\_Weird\_One](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@The\_Weird\_One](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Weird_One)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2010, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-who-dislike-indian-food/559064/121 "2010-11-05T18:16:13Z")
Cumin. I used to hate Indian food because I didn’t like cumin. I wanted to like Indian food, though, so I started using a little bit of curry in my cooking (where appropriate) until I developed a taste for it. I like Indian food now, although I’ll never be its biggest fan, and I still have a low tolerance for spiciness. ---
**Author:** ![Gestalt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/90ced4/32.png) [@Gestalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gestalt)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2010, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-who-dislike-indian-food/559064/122 "2010-11-05T18:21:47Z")
> [@Dervorin](#): > > I agree with **Gestalt** ’s comment above, and I wonder if it’s a perception based on growing up in the south, where north Indian food is something that you go out to eat, and resturants tend to be heavy on the oil and cream to improve taste. Presumably someone who grew up in north India would have the opposite view. I do think that south Indian food in general tends to be lighter and healthier, and also for a vegetarian like myself sometimes offers more choice. > > PS: **Gestalt** : greetings from a fellow Kannadiga. The moment you mentioned bise bele bath you gave yourself away. 😉 _squeals of excitement_ I _never_ meet other kannadigas. Are you in the states? Do you call it saaru too? I agree with your assessment . . . because it’s an “eating out” experience maybe that’s why we think it’s oily and creamy. Also, maybe because some North Indians, particularly Punjabis, are sort of known for being a bit bigger and taller than South Indians? And let’s not lie, there’s more than a little North/South rivalry, so maybe that’s a way for the south to dis on the north. > [@acsenray](#): > > For those who find the sauciness of Indian dishes to be overwhelming, it might be because you’re not eating them properly. > > Traditionally, an Indian meal is largely rice, a huge mound of rice. A significant purpose of almost everything else served with the meal – lentils, meat, vegetables, or whatever – is to make the rice tasty and interesting, so you can fill your gut with it and keep yourself full. > > So saucy dishes are meant to be _mixed_ with rice – not served on top of, but physically mucked together with the fingers (like you would combine flour and eggs to make pancakes) to evenly distribute the tasty parts through the mound of rice. And the proportion should be (by volume) at the very least 1:1. In reality, most Indians probably have much more rice, just Wagging from 2:1 to 5:1 by volume. Huh, that’s interesting. For some reason I thought much of North Indian cuisine was based on bread, like rotis, naan, chapatis. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2010, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-who-dislike-indian-food/559064/123 "2010-11-05T18:27:49Z")
> [@Gestalt](#): > > Huh, that’s interesting. For some reason I thought much of North Indian cuisine was based on bread, like rotis, naan, chapatis. Not in the east. Bengalis are rice eaters. In fact, the slang terms for “true Bengali” are based on the idea of eating fish and rice. In any case, breads take the place of rice – it’s the same principle. The sauces are to flavor the bread. ---
**Author:** ![kushiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbce88/32.png) [@kushiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kushiel)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2010, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-who-dislike-indian-food/559064/124 "2010-11-05T18:59:43Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > For those who find the sauciness of Indian dishes to be overwhelming, it might be because you’re not eating them properly. > > Traditionally, an Indian meal is largely rice, a huge mound of rice. A significant purpose of almost everything else served with the meal – lentils, meat, vegetables, or whatever – is to make the rice tasty and interesting, so you can fill your gut with it and keep yourself full. > > So saucy dishes are meant to be _mixed_ with rice – not served on top of, but physically mucked together with the fingers (like you would combine flour and eggs to make pancakes) to evenly distribute the tasty parts through the mound of rice. And the proportion should be (by volume) at the very least 1:1. In reality, most Indians probably have much more rice, just Wagging from 2:1 to 5:1 by volume. Ahahahaha. I’m that chick who goes to Japanese restaurants and always orders a bowl of rice that is just eaten plain. Seriously, if I was going from the above, I’d maybe need 2 tablespoons of sauce for a bowl of rice. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2010, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-who-dislike-indian-food/559064/125 "2010-11-05T19:07:52Z")
You eat only 2 or 4 tablespoons of rice for a meal? But, yeah, the vast majority of Indians are poor and can afford very small amounts of other kinds of food to supplement their rice. But even well-off Indians will evenly distribute sauces through rice. Mixed properly, it’s not really “saucy.” ---
**Author:** ![kushiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbce88/32.png) [@kushiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kushiel)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2010, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-who-dislike-indian-food/559064/126 "2010-11-05T19:16:42Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > You eat only 2 or 4 tablespoons of rice for a meal? > > But, yeah, the vast majority of Indians are poor and can afford very small amounts of other kinds of food to supplement their rice. But even well-off Indians will evenly distribute sauces through rice. > > Mixed properly, it’s not really “saucy.” I said “I’d maybe need 2 tablespoons of **sauce** for a **bowl of rice**.” I totally get what you’re saying, I’m just saying my experiences have been way too much sauce for me. ---
**Author:** ![Dervorin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Dervorin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dervorin)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2010, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-who-dislike-indian-food/559064/127 "2010-11-07T01:56:43Z")
> [@Gestalt](#): > > _squeals of excitement_ I _never_ meet other kannadigas. Are you in the states? Do you call it saaru too? > > I agree with your assessment . . . because it’s an “eating out” experience maybe that’s why we think it’s oily and creamy. Also, maybe because some North Indians, particularly Punjabis, are sort of known for being a bit bigger and taller than South Indians? > > And let’s not lie, there’s more than a little North/South rivalry, so maybe that’s a way for the south to dis on the north. Weeeeeeell… you might be right. 😉 And yes, I call it saaru, which is right and proper. I’m not in the US, actually. I’m on the other side of the Pond, in that little village known as London. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2010, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-who-dislike-indian-food/559064/128 "2010-11-07T04:07:57Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > For a lot of complex economic, environmental, social, and historical reasons, meat from goat/kid and sheep/lamb is not popular in the United States. Marvin Harris has taken a shot at explaining it, but I’d have to look back to see what he said… One explanation (that I got from a TV documentary) was that during WWII the US Army served lots & lots of canned mutton to soldiers who, upon coming home, promply forbade their wives from ever serving any kind of sheepmeat. My father’s definatley in the the blander the better meat & potatoes camp. He also cannot eat a meal (other than breakfast) that doesn’t feature meat (beef or pork), poultry (chicken or turkey) or occasionally seafood (lobster, crab, or shrimp). Even something like eggplant parmesan has to be served with a side of sausage or chicken. Mom on the other hand loves spicy food (though she doesn’t quite have my tolerance). She’s actually very excited that I’m taking her out for Indian food next Saturday while Dad’s on a trip with some friends of his. ---
**Author:** ![Molotok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@Molotok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Molotok)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2010, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-who-dislike-indian-food/559064/129 "2010-11-09T03:46:44Z")
Perhaps turmeric isn’t the toxic substance I perceive it to be, but if my food is radioactive orange, and throbbing, it burns my throat, and does unpleasant things to my bowels. Other than that, love Indian food. Especially ghee. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-who-dislike-indian-food/559064.md?page=6)