Why Do People Claim That Indian Food Is Spicy?

[Cluricaun]

@pulykamell

They can go either way, but if you bread wings and call them “Buffalo” style, it’s a sure way to ensure I never order them again from your establishment. I’m firmly in the naked camp, with the exception of Harold’s hot wings.

To be fair, I realize that I am a wing Philistine, and that it’s wrong of me to love the TMI wings from Hooters or the Blazin wings from Buffalo Wild Wings, but I do. I love them so much…

[pulykamell]

Here’s a version of the above sketch.

[overlyverbose]

@ashtayk

If you want something spicy to go with your food, just walk over the the “pickle” section of any Indian grocery store and pick up the basic Mango pickle. Do NOT buy the Patak brand or any thing that’s made in the UK…pick up something made by MTR or “Sanjeev Kapoor”. The problem you may have is the sheer variety of the pickles - various combinations of vegetables, fruits and styles.

Now, be careful when you eat this. Open the jar carefully and do NOT spill the oil on your clothes. The stain will NOT wash off. Take a quarter teaspoonful on a plate and touch the corner of a piece of bread (or nan or roti) to it briefly and pop it into your mouth. Adjust the amount of pickle one your bread according to your heat-resistance. And report back here.

I agree with you for the most part, but I would comment that, while not very spicy, Patak’s Brinjal (eggplant) chutney is fantastic. It’s the only chutney of theirs that I like, but it is wonderful. I love that sweet flavor with well-spiced samosas or a decent aloo paratha. You do have to use quite a lot of it at a time, though, to get the full flavor.

[Dewey_Finn]

@Greg_Charles

There was a talk show / sketch comedy done by Indians living in London, but I can’t remember the name. They had one skit about Indians in New Delhi going for an “English”, that is, to an English style restaurant. After they mispronounce the waiter’s name (I think it was Tom) and one woman pinches his butt (saying they expect that in here), one guy boasts he’s ordering the blandest thing on the menu. It was an obviously play on going for spicy Indian food in England, but I thought it was pretty clever. <end tangent>

That was the “Going Out For An English” sketch from Goodness Gracious Me. I just tried to find it on YouTube but couldn’t.

[Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew]

@Greg_Charles

There was a talk show / sketch comedy done by Indians living in London, but I can’t remember the name. They had one skit about Indians in New Delhi going for an “English”, that is, to an English style restaurant. After they mispronounce the waiter’s name (I think it was Tom) and one woman pinches his butt (saying they expect that in here), one guy boasts he’s ordering the blandest thing on the menu. It was an obviously play on going for spicy Indian food in England, but I thought it was pretty clever. <end tangent>

Sounds a lot like a piece in Mad magazine from the '50s, about two Chinese men going out for American food. “That mayonnaise. Only use little bit–it red hot!”

[Hazle_Weatherfield]

Do we agree that spicy does not mean hot? Because they’re not the same thing.

[Vox_Imperatoris]

I actually can’t stand actual wings. I just like the chicken fingers (“boneless wings”) cut into wing-sized bites and coated in Buffalo sauce.

Valete,
Vox Imperatoris

[OpalCat]

@Greg_Charles

There was a talk show / sketch comedy done by Indians living in London, but I can’t remember the name. They had one skit about Indians in New Delhi going for an “English”, that is, to an English style restaurant. After they mispronounce the waiter’s name (I think it was Tom) and one woman pinches his butt (saying they expect that in here), one guy boasts he’s ordering the blandest thing on the menu. It was an obviously play on going for spicy Indian food in England, but I thought it was pretty clever. <end tangent>

I think that’s the one that was linked to in post #18

[lee]

My husband insisted that he hated spicy food. He would balk at the first sign of heat and refuse to eat the meal. I like spicy food. Now, I started eating Indian food after seeing Red Dwarf, and so the first dish I tried was vindaloo. I rather liked it, and I often get that when we carry out Indian food. We also get other non hot dishes like lamb pashanda and tandoori chicken. Once, when we had Indian carry out, I started my dinner off with some other dishes and when I went to eat some vindaloo, it was gone. I cornered him and he confessed, that yes, he had eaten it, that he liked potatoes and so he had tried it. I tasted the remaining sauce and it was just as hot as it should be. So, from then on, he was not allowed to veto all spicy foods and we found that he did not like horseradish or jalapenos, but he was fine with most spicy foods and even habenaros.

[levdrakon]

@lee

My husband insisted that he hated spicy food. He would balk at the firstI tasted the remaining sauce and it was just as hot as it should be. So, from then on, he was not allowed to veto all spicy foods and we found that he did not like horseradish or jalapenos, but he was fine with most spicy foods and even habenaros.

Oh, I’m in the exact same position. I’m not allowed to put hot pepper in ANYTHING. She will make a green curry hot enough to make you buy new underwear. But when she cooks with hot pepper, “it’s different.” No, if capsaisin is what you’re using, it’s what you’re using.

[pulykamell]

@Hazle_Weatherfield

Do we agree that spicy does not mean hot? Because they’re not the same thing.

It’s been my impression that “spicy,” in American English, is pretty much always used to mean “spicy hot” as opposed to “well/heavily spiced.”

[Hazle_Weatherfield]

@pulykamell

It’s been my impression that “spicy,” in American English, is pretty much always used to mean “spicy hot” as opposed to “well/heavily spiced.”

You’re probably right, but I don’t agree. At the Indian restaurants I frequent, these terms are just not the same.

OP, if you’re going to Indian restaurants and are not finding spicy foods, you are going to some really bad places.

[An_Gadai]

@pulykamell

Here’s a version of the above sketch.

http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=10677250&postcount=18

[pulykamell]

@An_Gadai

http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=10677250&postcount=18

Mine’s different!

(Though I confess, I did pass over the original post since I didn’t know what it was linking to.)

[zweisamkeit]

@ashtayk

As an Indian living in the US for years now, I will not eat Indian food in a restaurant. The food is often very very greasy and one dimensional. And much of it is just of the “Tandoori” variety. Even in India the large majority of restaurants are of this type. Of course, you can easily find superb restaurants serving region specific food - Most of that is great!

If you want something spicy to go with your food, just walk over the the “pickle” section of any Indian grocery store and pick up the basic Mango pickle. Do NOT buy the Patak brand or any thing that’s made in the UK…pick up something made by MTR or “Sanjeev Kapoor”. The problem you may have is the sheer variety of the pickles - various combinations of vegetables, fruits and styles.

Now, be careful when you eat this. Open the jar carefully and do NOT spill the oil on your clothes. The stain will NOT wash off. Take a quarter teaspoonful on a plate and touch the corner of a piece of bread (or nan or roti) to it briefly and pop it into your mouth. Adjust the amount of pickle one your bread according to your heat-resistance. And report back here.

This is hilarious! I read this just now; 5 hours ago I went to an Indo-Pak grocery because I needed tamarind concentrate for a chickpea dish I’ll be making. While I was there, I of course picked up a few other things. Two of these are pickles from Sanjeev Kapoor! I got the Hot Garlic Pickle and Gobi Shalgam (turnip cauliflower). I can’t wait to have some!

And related to the OP: I can’t imagine ever calling Indian food “bland”. You can get all ranges of spicy-hotness, yeah, but even the no-spice dishes are so richly flavored. I’ve learned to de-honkify most of my recipes and usually triple or quadruple the amounts of spices used*, minimum (usually at least 2 tsp of each thing, if not over a tablespoon, depending), and everyone raves about my cooking.

I’ve also loved learning to have your spices cook in oil first, before adding any other liquid. The flavors are so much brighter now!

• a soup that serves 8-12 needs more than a half teaspoon of each spice/seasoning, dammit!

[Dewey_Finn]

I also passed over the link in post 18 and I frequently ignore naked links, i.e. ones that are posted without explanation. If you want people to follow your link, tell us what you’re linking to.

[An_Gadai]

Ah yeah I should have had a description.

My own Indian food anecdote was pretty much the scenario they’re lampooning. I asked for the hottest thing on the menu in a place in town. The guy gave me a vegetable vindaloo. It hurt. My friend said “How do you guys eat this stuff?” and the waiter said “Oh we never would eat anything like that.” In order to complete the meal I had to fill my mouth with milk and dunk the vindaloo in. Good times!

[Jennyrosity]

I think it might have been have been Terry Pratchett who claimed that “vindaloo” translated as “mouth-scalding gristle for macho foreign idiots”

[lee]

@levdrakon

Oh, I’m in the exact same position. I’m not allowed to put hot pepper in ANYTHING. She will make a green curry hot enough to make you buy new underwear. But when she cooks with hot pepper, “it’s different.” No, if capsaisin is what you’re using, it’s what you’re using.

Well, he was so blinded by logic and by potatoes, he dropped the ban on peppers, except the jalapeños, so I am happy. And he genuinely does not like horseradish as demonstrated empirically, so I am no longer in a bad spot, and can cook with almost anything I want.