I don’t know. All the Indian restaurants I’ve been to, and all the apartments in my (ex)-complex which were inhabited by Indians all had the same mixture of odors which I attribute to “curry”.
ETA: I do like lamb.
Then it’s a misattribution. The odors you’re objecting to are a combination of odors from dozens of different dishes – some curries, some not – and different combinations of spices (if they are authentic or homemade dishes, then none of them are using curry powder). What you find objectionable is the smell of Indian cuisine in general, not “curry.”
Well the good thing about pork and chicken, other than their relative cheapness, is their ability to act as flavor sponges. Pork seems to work exceptionally well with fiery spices. And yes, there are Indian dishes cooked with pork - some Goan food, for example.
IANAI but from talking to them, I’d always had the impression that it was a point of pride that the chef decided how the dish was supposed to taste, and if he wanted X in it – he’s already put it there! To the point that I had the vague impression it would be almost insulting to ask for additional flavor condiments. Some of my gringo friends who have a sort of default macho “make it hotter” approach to all ethnic food have gotten, not offense, but vague puzzlement when they asked Indian waiters for hot sauce. You want hot? Order one of the dishes made to be hot, and it’ll be as hot as you care to dare. I’m not really sure the Indians even have a side condiment/hot sauce.
This Indian emphasis on letting the chef choose the exact flavor profile is actually kind of ahead of its time, as this seems to be an emergent trend at haute Western restaurants – I’m noticing a fair number of high end places that don’t even have salt and pepper shakers out, as the high-end chef artistes don’t want peasants like us ruining their creations. Kind of annoying (the American customer-is-always-right ethos runs deep), but I also kind of see their point (and, there’s generally plenty of salt, etc. in most high-end food prepared by good chefs).
I’ve always felt kind of bad about not liking most Indian food, especially because various Indian friends over the years have cooked for me, trying to share what they consider delicious, and I still find it so heavily spiced it’s a chore to eat. I grew up all over the world, eating many kinds of foods. I think I just need to discover the names of the regions in India where the food is lighter. There was one meal an Indian acquaintance cooked us many years ago that was surprisingly subtle and delicate in flavor. Too bad I can’t remember where he was from.
My SO is Vietnamese, and will eat just about anything, and loves hot peppers, but he says he doesn’t like Indian food either. Too many overwhelming spices for him.
Because of the large number of immigrants from South Asia (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh), you can get very authentic Indian food in England without trying hard at all.
My mom can’t stand most Indian food, and I think it’s mostly the sheer quantity of spice. She’s open-minded enough for “Here, try this, it isn’t spicy”, though.
Leaves more for me. Yum!
There you go. I dislike all Indian food, not just the stuff that contains curry. 
Wow, really? Around here I have to go a hundred miles to get a good chhole batura. Locally is mostly S. Indian, soome Gujrati, lots of Pakistani/Afghani, all of which are delicious, but sometimes I miss a good old Punjabi dish.
All of you that don’t like the spice should try idli - I think they are like fermented lentil cakes - pretty bland but still a nice comfort food. You are supposed to eat them with Sambar but I just eat them up plain.
Thanks a lot you bastards, now I am reaaaaaaaaaaaally hungry.
Isn’t idli fermented rice?
Do you by any chance live in South City, St. Louis?
Mixture of fermented lentil and rice usually, I think.
For another great and not-too-spicy (well – leave out the green peppers if you want) snack – medhu vadai, q.v.:
Nope! Mine’s in Queens, NY.
Ahhhh, gotcha. We have a Tandoori Hut in South St. Louis that used to be a Pizza Hut, hence the name.
Wiki says fermented black lentils, dehusked, and rice.
Hey! Do you have a recipe for kichdhi? I have no idea what the English transliteration is…hang on…like rice and lentils together, maybe it’s khichhuri?
This does not correlate at all with my experience. Indian cuisine most assuredly includes hot condiments.
For a “full” dinner, I like to have a whole array of condiments at hand, hot and sweet and savory, for mixing and matching flavors from bite to bite. I may compose successive bites with paprika-onion relish, with imli, with the mint or cilantro chutneys, with hot lime achar, with sweet mango or spicy-sweet ginger-mango chutney, with cool cucumber raita, and so on. Usually these aren’t added to the prepared main dish, but assembled with bread or rice in between.
This is something I specifically love about Indian food, the range of flavor possibilities on the table at one time.
In Bengali, it’s khichhuri, but it’s often transcribed as khichhdi, because of the spelling.
I’m no expert at making it, but I’ve made it by frying some onions and spices (turmeric, bay leaf, cumin, cloves) and then just throw in some rice and lentils (split and dehusked red lentil/mushori/masoor probably works best because it can be timed with the rice) and water and simmer until cooked. Add some cooked potatoes and whatever other raw vegetables you might have near the end, so they don’t get overcooked. Could also add some green chilis, red pepper, cinnamon, whatever you like.
I don’t guarantee that this will get you something you’ll like, but it does get you something like khichhuri.
In my experience, this is more restaurant-style eating. You don’t get so many choices of condiments for home-cooked food. You’ll get salt, lime wedges, green chilis, and maybe one kind of achar. But it would be considered odd to use them heavily.
Chutneys and yogurt are eaten at the end of the meal, not mixed with the dishes.
And in Bengali cuisine, you never get both bread and rice. That’s definitely a restaurant thing.
Thanks! I will try it. I freakin’ love khichhdi. I haven’t had it in years and years. I was only given it when I was sick, but I loved it so much I wanted it normally. I think my massi made it in the pressure cooker, though. I’d ask her, but she’s not talking to me because the other aunt is getting divorced and she thinks I am on the side of the husband (ok…so I sort of am, but still.)
Did I tell you I made my own mango achar not too long ago? There are two problems with the way it came out. 1., there is a little too much salt, and I am not sure how to cut it. (Any ideas?) 2., beyond the salt thing, IT IS TOO YUMMY. Seriously it came out really good and makes me want to eat it straight out of the jar.
I am Indian and so grew up eating Indian food, so naturally I love it. However, there are a few drawbacks
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The healthy stuff is kind of boring for me. Not a huge fan of idlis, and growing up the daily dinner meal was rice with a thin soup [we called it saaru but it is like a mix in between daal and rasaam in terms of thickness and spiciness], followed by rice with yogurt. This type of Indian food doesn’t really get me going
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The tasty stuff is sooo unhealthy. For maybe about three days I’ve been craving potato curry and pooris, and I think I’m going to ask my mom to make it for Thanksgiving, but talk about bad for you . . . carbs and deep-fried carbs
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It’s pretty hard to make at home, at least authentically. You need about 6 billion ingredients and a pressure cooker.