Odors of Indian Food

[Jason Perlow]

One of the things that I think dissuades us from cooking Indian food at least on a semi-regular basis is that the odors produced from all the spices combined with stuff like Ghee and other fats can result in some pretty pungent, semi-permament odors.

What do you guys do to keep it out of your kitchens -- and the rest of your house?

[Monica Bhide]

I think good ventilation is key to this! What do others think???

(on a side note -- In Bahrain, where i grew up, many people had a separate curry kitchen )

[Edward]

One of the things that I think dissuades us from cooking Indian food at least on a semi-regular basis is that the odors produced from all the spices combined with stuff like Ghee and other fats can result in some pretty pungent, semi-permament odors.

What do you guys do to keep it out of your kitchens -- and the rest of your house?

It hasn't dissuaded me! As much as I cook South Asian-style food I hope my kitchen smells like spices and ghee or smoking mustard oil or whatever. I like it, it makes me happy!

Monica is right;ventilation does help. Onions are the biggest "stinkers", but they add their smell to a whole world of cuisines. Though in Indian cooking they are often cooked much longer which creates more smell. Maybe burning some incense would help?

I say bring the odors on!

[tryska]

i've never noticed the smell personally in my house, altho i've noticed it in other people's houses. i think the biggest smell contributor is turmeric tho.

[Peppertrail]

One of the things that I think dissuades us from cooking Indian food at least on a semi-regular basis is that the odors produced from all the spices combined with stuff like Ghee and other fats can result in some pretty pungent, semi-permament odors.

What do you guys do to keep it out of your kitchens -- and the rest of your house?

Indain cooking does produce odors from spices and onions. Our cooking methods, mostly stove top cooking also add to it. As Monica said good ventilation helps. But for those of us living in big city apartments that is a problem with no kitchen windows and no venetilation hoods. Thankfully, I have a small window and I keep it open when I can. My stove has no ventilation hood and last year I bought an air purifier. Everytime I fry something I keep it on and that seems to help a lot.

However, Indian food is not the only one that generate ordors. My next door neighbor cooks some kind of ham every weekend and the whole building complains about the smell.

[nessa]

Mmmmmmmmm. It also makes me happy to walk into my and smell air redolent with spice and good food. When I need to tone it down (SO complains, or company is due) I corral the wee beasties, open the windows and turn on the attic fan for a while. I have an over the stove ventilator thingamajig, but the morons who installed it (read previous owners) did not vent the thing to the outside!! That is one of the SO's projects before summer.....

Perhpas next time he complains of the pungent aromas I'll remind him gently of that....

[sequim]

However, Indian food is not the only one that generate ordors. My next door neighbor cooks some kind of ham every weekend and the whole building complains about the smell.

I love lamb, but it's a stinker too. I love the taste and the smell of food cooking but not the aftersmell. So keep the fan on, open the sliding doors, light the aromatherapy candles. It all helps.

[Toasted]

I happen to love the smell of indian food and if it lingers around for a while- all the better! But, if I have to air out the house I set a pot on the stove with some water and sliced lemons and let it simmer away for a couple of hours. Works for me.

[mongo_jones]

good ventilation and a strong exhaust fan. it helps as well to have hardwood floors and blinds, rather than carpets and curtains which trap the smell.

[Episure]

One man's smell is another man's aroma.

[scott123]

When I think of the wafting aromas of my kitchen, an image of gleeful grizzly bears smearing themselves with whale fat comes to mind. Such bliss these odors bring me. If I could bottle it, I'd wear it as a cologne.

[Anna N]

Once, in another life, I tested 300+ Indian recipes in the space of 3 months. My place smelled like an Indian take-out. No longer. How did I solve the problem? I moved! Works every time.

[bhelpuri]

an image of gleeful grizzly bears smearing themselves with whale fat comes to mind

Forget about getting rid of the smells of Indian food, how do I get this image out of my head?!

[BBhasin]

Aside from having a seperate kitchen away from the living quarters or cooking outside ( both of which incidently used to be fairly common in India of yester years) its a good idea , if you are going to cook a lot of indian, to have as little fabric around, as fabric tends to absorb the smells. So non carpeted floors, no drapes on the windows and a non fabric upholstry on the furniture. My wife lights a candle in the kitchen and its her strong belief that its keeps the smell low. I personally think all it does is release carcenogen carbons in the air, I suggest to her to get a shaggy dog instead whose coat would absorb trhe smell and let it out into the yard for a while once she is done cooking. ( the last part is a joke)

All that warfing aromas bit. I qiute like it when someone is cooking and the wonderful aromas greet me when I walk in as a prelude to the treats ahead but once done I want it gone and not keep lingering the next couple of days, just a tease, with nothing in store.

And Jason, you hurt me by using the word odor in conjunction with cooking Indian,( and Episure & Mongo, you should have picked this up) the words are aroma, bouquet and the like

[bhelpuri]

you hurt me by using the word odor in conjunction with cooking Indian

Yes, it's a sore spot with Indians, and we tend to bristle at the suggestion that the smell of our food is not attractive, or worse. It's the first step down the ugly stereotype lane, followed by "why do the women wear dots on their head" and ends up with "why do you smell so weird."

In fact, were this not a comradely, genteel-type, site, the correct and approved answer to Perlow's question would be - "fuck you, asshole", or maybe "and what about your mama?"

[Jason Perlow]

Please be advised I asked Monica if I could ask the question first, and she said it was not a bad or inappropriate question!

[bhelpuri]

Oh, it's a legitimate question and was phrased in an extremely civilized manner.

But it is a sore spot, nonetheless.

[Jason Perlow]

Oh, it's a legitimate question and was phrased in an extremely civilized manner.

But it is a sore spot, nonetheless.

So like, how do you keep yourself from smelling bad? And why DO you wear that dot on your head?

[mongo_jones]

Please be advised I asked Monica if I could ask the question first, and she said it was not a bad or inappropriate question!

i wasn't particularly offended by the choice of word either--aromas can turn to odors after a while--but i'd point out that none of us (not even the excellent monica) can claim to be the final arbiter of what's going to be offensive or not to ALL indians, even just the ones on this board.

[Kim WB]

There is a legitimate issue with lingering food issues of any kind. As a real estate agent, I can assure you that this is often a subject that comes up, predominantly in Indian homes but in other homes as well. Often, the buyer request that some funds be kept in escrow until the home is repainted, at the buyer's cost, until the buyers is certain that the repainting remediated the problem. The biggest mistake that I have witnessed is homeowners buying new construction, not using primers or a sealed latex paint, and then the cooking odors get into the sheetrock. One kitchen cost close to 30k to remove all the sheetrock ( which was "oily" to the touch, so much had seeped into the walls) and replace and repaint. This was settled in court, and the buyers prevailed.

If you cook any cuisine that uses strong spices, slap a coat of high quality paint on your kitchen walls every year or two. A spicy dish can fill your kitchen with pleasant odors that will eventually dissapate, but prolonged stove top high heat cooking can create a situation as described above, and that is not a pleasant smell by anyone's standards.

Edited April 20, 2004 by Kim WB (log)

[Monica Bhide]

I think this is a well intentioned question and deserves to be treated as such. Sometimes the smells are overwhelming and strong and it or may not be a bad thing.. they just are

I had a korean roommate onetime and I thought that Korean food had a strong smell as well and sometimes it was hard on me when the kitchen had the "aroma" of the food. I love the food and adored her.. its not personal

[Monica Bhide]

why do I feel like Vanna white all of a sudden

[BBhasin]

Now, after ALL this discussion.......

another view

People walk into our little Indian place and exclaim " oooh it smells wonderfull! "

and we who work there smell nothing, as we are there day in and day out. Then we go away for a while, vacation or whatever, and when we return it hits us and we realise what those patrons were talking about.

I guess we get so wraped up in those aromas that we stop noticing or perhaps the association for us is work and we just block it out.

[BBhasin]

Please be advised I asked Monica if I could ask the question first, and she said it was not a bad or inappropriate question!

OH the Boss Man on the defensive!

Just teasing Jason, don't take anything too seriously or personally.

You were kinder than my wife, she walks in " what are you cooking? It stinks!! At least open the windows." ( that was my first and only experimentation with Bombay Duck, dried fish for those not in the know)

take care

bhasin

[Anna N]

I agree that lingering smells (odours, aromas, call 'em what you will) are unpleasant whatever their origin. I much preferred the smell of my "Indian takeout" to the smell that came from another apartment quite often that seemed like fish that had been much fresher a couple of weeks ago! We couldn't think of eating fish on the same night as this odour hung about. I think it's just that we are used to the smells of our own homes and don't notice them nearly so much until we cook something unusual.