Indian food...I don't get it

[Anonymous]

I'm with you OP. I don't like Indian food.

[Anonymous]

Try Rasika at least once before you give up Indian food altogether.

[Anonymous]

I love it! My kids love it and DH loves it too. But, it is OK not to like it. I dislike Mexican and Tex Mex to the extreme, and also Greek cuisine and make no apologies. My DS started eating chicken curry at 11 months old! We lived in East Africa and Indian food is very popular there, that is how we got introduced to it. I was told by a Pakistani kid in my class, that here in the US we really don't know what real Indian/Pakistani food it. He is right. I see any raw onion and peppers and mush that is Mexican food to me, I get a gag reflex right away! It is perfectly fine you don't like it.

[Anonymous]

I've always needed an Imodium AD chaser

[Anonymous]

Just to add my FIL, almost 70 hates it too. He found an Indian restaurant once in Denver for us, and he criticized it the whole time! I didn't quite understand why he insisted that we go there, maybe he was hoping to please us or that he might like it? He just should have stayed home, rather than criticize it and ruin dinner for everybody.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Try Rasika at least once before you give up Indian food altogether.

If you are in Rockville, try Bombay Bistro or Chettinadu or Minerva before you say "no" to Indian food. There will be at least one thing on the menu you will like at each of these places.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm also not a fan of Indian although I will have it on occasion when we go out with friends and they elect to have Indian.

It really is, to put it crudely, overspiced brown mush in varying guises for the most part. I can recognize and appreciate the culinary heritage built around spices and the use of spices as the flavors that dominate and enhance the dish, whereas the raw ingredients of the meats or vegetables or grains are far less important other than a vehicle for the spices. It's different from the traditional European culinary heritages where the success of the dish is based on enhancing the flavors of the raw ingredients and spices are only subtle enhancements to strengthen the original flavors.

Really? Brown mush sums up the totality of Indian food? If you don't like the cuisine that's fine, but your description and criticism of the cuisine is ridiculous to say the least.

[Anonymous]

Rogan josh at Haandi!! Heaven

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Try Rasika at least once before you give up Indian food altogether.

If you are in Rockville, try Bombay Bistro or Chettinadu or Minerva before you say "no" to Indian food. There will be at least one thing on the menu you will like at each of these places.

Minerva is okay but their buffet food is often greasy. Spice Xing has a wonderful weekend lunch buffet and the food is not unnecessarily rich. Their butter chicken is excellent. I have been to Bombay Bistro only for their weekday lunch buffet and was not impressed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I love it! My kids love it and DH loves it too. But, it is OK not to like it. I dislike Mexican and Tex Mex to the extreme, and also Greek cuisine and make no apologies. My DS started eating chicken curry at 11 months old! We lived in East Africa and Indian food is very popular there, that is how we got introduced to it. I was told by a Pakistani kid in my class, that here in the US we really don't know what real Indian/Pakistani food it. He is right. I see any raw onion and peppers and mush that is Mexican food to me, I get a gag reflex right away! It is perfectly fine you don't like it.

I know this thread is about Indian food--but how can you dislike Greek?!

[Anonymous]

I'm desi, and I get you OP. I grew up eating desi food, but now I can't eat it more than once or twice a week. I like to taste the natural flavor of the meat and veggies.

What a lot of people do like about Indian food is the tomato/onion paste that serves as the base for a lot of popular menu items (butter chicken, CTM, matar paneer). I love that stuff too, but I liken it to a jarred tomato/pasta sauce.

Try a South Indian restaurant and have dosa. I think you'll appreciate the more subtle flavors.

[Anonymous]

Vegetarian Indian home cooking is spectacular -- yummy, healthy and quick. Seriously, my Indian SIL is a magician with the pressure cooker. It has nothing to do with the heavy dishes you get at a typical US Indian restaurant (although I personally find those yummy too.)

French cuisine is fundamentally different because the flavors are supposed to be the same/complementary (e.g., meat plus butter) whereas classical Indian cuisine has contrasting flavors.

Here's an interesting take on the difference: http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/03/26/394339284/how-snobbery-helped-take-the-spice-out-of-european-cooking

[Anonymous]

I'm indian and grew up eating the food. I've always been very sensitive to all the spices and carbs. Plus, indians in India tend to overcook their veggies to cook any possible bacteria in the vegetables there - that practice has made its way over here even though we don't need to overcook our veggies.

That said, try the version of indian food where they grill the meats and add spices - tandoor style. It's not drowning in oil and tolerable for those sensitive to spices/oil/carbs. You can also add try adding a little of those typical indian spices (turmeric, red pepper, etc.) in lightly sauteed veggies - it will really amp up the flavor and is a good alternative to the otherwise boring salt&pepper flavor most americans are used to eating.

[Anonymous]

Even Tandoori chicken? C'mon everyone loves tandoori chicken!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm also not a fan of Indian although I will have it on occasion when we go out with friends and they elect to have Indian.

It really is, to put it crudely, overspiced brown mush in varying guises for the most part. I can recognize and appreciate the culinary heritage built around spices and the use of spices as the flavors that dominate and enhance the dish, whereas the raw ingredients of the meats or vegetables or grains are far less important other than a vehicle for the spices. It's different from the traditional European culinary heritages where the success of the dish is based on enhancing the flavors of the raw ingredients and spices are only subtle enhancements to strengthen the original flavors.

Really? Brown mush sums up the totality of Indian food? If you don't like the cuisine that's fine, but your description and criticism of the cuisine is ridiculous to say the least.

OP, I get what you are saying. I have eaten Indian foods many times (in India; north and south) and it does seem to be many variations (and not that varied) on the same thing. It's not as varied as say, "American" where the range is a Caesar salad all the way to fries and burgers all the way to pork chop with applesauce and green beans. I was a fan of some creative preparations of paneer in the south, and the tandoor is a slight variation, but Indian in general was all the same theme. And that's OK and it's delicious when you are in the mood, but there you go.