those of you who think racism against desis is no big deal

it's sad that so many people i know are in denial. on the one hand, it can be so subtle it's quite easy to miss, and on the other, i guess ignorance is bliss...

Oh God. Just what I need.

Now I have to make sure Mrs Kobayashi doesn't see this story, else I'd never hear the end of "turmeric cures everything" (not to mention "I told you so"). We already consume vast quantities of the stuff as it is. I'm starting to yellow around the extremities.

As for that website with the racist comments, man, it's a surreal scene over there. Not only are you getting all the "Indians smell" and "Indian chefs wipe their asses with their bare hands" ad infinitum...but the spam blocker on the site won't even let people type in the word "spice" because, apparently, it's too close to "spic" which is derogatory. So, it's a discussion thread about turmeric and curry, and no one is allowed to type in spice. But the vilest sort of racism? Please, go right ahead.

Twilight zone.

Oh, I just saw that you can't type Scunthorpe either. Turns it into "the Gourmet Indian Restaurant, Ashby High Street, S****horpe, South Humberside."

It would be hilarious if it weren't so grim.

"Made-up Indian names, comparisons of desi food to the excrement of various animals, and discussions of desi body odor and penis size are all on the menu."

well, at least now we know that generations of eating food so bland it neither has an aroma nor excites a single tastebud produces certified ignoramuses. on the bright side, one or two of them have volunteered to live shorter lives instead of eating turmeric, despite the health benefits. hooray for our side and for mankind!

Changed my name coz I just started a mostly raw foods regimine. And I can assure you that tasting the real flavour of fruits and veggies, as they are in nature, is neither bland nor does it fail to excite my tastebuds. I love Indian food, mildly or wildly spiced, but I love raw foods as they were meant to be digested by nature also. Most of us on a processed and cooked food diet lack digestive enzymes which results in alot of health problems (also an ayurvedic concept). What is the surest way of creating enzymes in your system? Eat raw foods, preferably organic. You can still have your turmeric and other spices, they count as raw, but better to get them at a health food store that ensures they are uncontaminated -- organicly grown and processed.

hey hey hey siddharta, what's wrong with a USA Today reader? huh? i'm an editor of a gannett publication too.

you telling me you don't have a pair of khaki pants?

;)

Regarding the "desi smell" - you are what you eat holds true even today. If we are honest with ourselves we will admit that our bodily odors; stool, farts and aromas wafting from our breath and pores, do indeed smell like the foods we eat. Naturally if one is daily partaking of pungent spices, one's body will smell pungent. After only 2 days of eating heavy chounks, chaunces of ghee and chillies, I start smelling like what? Ghee and chillies. To counteract that I usually go primarily raw for a few days, or make kitchri or subjis without ghee and chillie.

Thanks, now I shall have that song stuck in my head for the remainder of the evening!

those of you who think racism against desis is no big deal might find it instructive to take a look.

I don't think anyone thinks its not a big deal. Its just a fact of life and we have to deal with it. I don't think there is any community that doesn't practice racism in one form or another. Its part of human frailty, our need to feel better than the next person. What you focus on expands. I choose to acknowledge that it exists and then move my focus elsewhere.

Turmeric rocks! BTW did anyone else have to drink raw turmeric juice in warm milk as an adolecent? It was bad going down but my skin was flawless! Raw veggies though, I'm not so sure. Are you sure you can eat any veg raw?

to #5: clearly my comment wasn't aimed at someone like you ;) and i am not averse to eating raw fruits and vegetables on a daily basis (but cooking some of them does release other benefits as well). i don't consider them bland food, i was referring to other types of really bland, processed foods. it's aimed at people who make precisely the type of derogatory comment one reads after that story, who are probably wholly unacquainted with a lot of fruits or vegetables, raw or otherwise, and for whom black pepper and salt is "exotic" and too spicy, and more familiar with bland, overly processed foods or meat swimming in blood (the smell of cooking meat isn't that pleasant either, especially without any spices to mask it.) i've seen these types in action - cringing at a spinach calzone or thinking one piece of meat and a side of potatoes is the be all and end all of cuisine and proud of the fact that their plate lacks any colour whatsoever, except for maybe some overboiled vegetables. they tend to pour scorn on anything remotely "foreign" (whatever that means).

hey hey hey siddharta, what's wrong with a USA Today reader? huh? i'm an editor of a gannett publication too.

ooh, thanks for the tip! very bloggable!

you telling me you don't have a pair of khaki pants?

i am telling you exactly that.

Thanks, now I shall have that song stuck in my head for the remainder of the evening!

you're most welcome, brimful!

Thanks, now I shall have that song stuck in my head for the remainder of the evening!

yup. i second this, it's as bad as abhi's crazytown 'butterfly' post..
aarrrrghhh....

a quick question:

do different races have different smelling power? how do these people have such well-developed olfactory nerves like dogs?

OMG I sent this article to my mother a physician who stuck haldi on everything everywhere everytime we had a booboo rather than give us real meds when we were young. One day I came home from work and found my cat with yellow all over his face. Apparently he had had a mishap, cut himself and my mother had generously rubbed haldi all over his face! He didn't even midn it. He's pure white. It took nearly a month before I saw the stain from his fur disappear!! But I'm a sucker for haldi. I'm sick as a dog and religiously drink my haldi milk with gur everyday and know it's going to make me feel better faster than any cold and flu medicine. Oh another variation of the haldi milk is one part haldi one part salt boiled in a cup of water down to half a cup. You can kiss your flu goodbye.

haldi milk

my folks drink this anytime they have a cold...
i on the other hand, swear by the airborne tablets...

Some of the comments on that site were just so weird. I can't understand where it came from--Indians wipe their hands on their heads? What?

I wish I could share with them my strict "eat with right hand only" rule I grew up with in my house, despite not using my left hand to wash with ever. Oh well, not like an internet flame war would solve anything anyways.

Come on, Ms Pea....whats that they used to teach in med school? you treat a cold , it goes away in a week, or else it lasts for seven days!
The haldi milk with lots of sugar really helps.....

Honestly, Siddhartha, you are the man. you're so often delivering stories with the angle firmly titled towards uplifting our (and generally all) community(s). In this age of cyncism, that might sound ironic, but its said with utmost sincerity. thanks brother

Clearly, there are now two human species. One that believes in reasoned debate and respects the other, and another that is neanderthal armed with an iPod and a keyboard. Prosperity is clearly not a great indicator of sophistication. Reading through the comments on that linked post helps me understand why I'm drawn to blogs/sites like SM.

Btw, I remember a Time magazine article last year that also mentioned the linkage between turmeric and prevention of Alzheimers. Also, a majority of the Western world thinks Indian cuisine is all about curry. All those Indian restaurants out there have helped reinforce this myth.

Not to say I don't think the same about all the SM crew, even the more, um, right among you. Its just Siddhartha's post got to me, as I'm sure to many

The BBC had an article 5 years ago on turmeric's medicinal properties.

Now I'm curious about the haldi milk thing...what's the recipe?

Razor Ramon said that you should ignore the comments on the redorbit.com website. Razor Ramon thinks that there many great things about curry.

It would be hilarious if it weren't so grim.

I have learned to embrace my occasional curry smell. As my Italian roommate in college pointed out, Italians sometimes smell like garlic. There are worse things to smell like than food, and I smell them on other people on a daily basis. And American houses are not well ventilated enough for people who cook food with an aroma. So there.

A question that needs to be asked is this: if indian food is so healthy for you, why the heck are indians the unhealthiest people on earth? It cant all be blamed on malnutrition, for even well-fed indians are generally unhealthy looking.

I suspect that it is the excessive use of oil, the overcooking that "kills" all the healthy ingredients, and the lack of exercise.

I don't know that desis are considered the unhealthiest people on earth, but a combination of genetic propensity to heart disease + distinct lack of Anglo-Saxon outdoorsy culture + lack of a wine-drinking tradition may have something to do with it.

JOAT - too funny about your haldi-smeared kitty! We were subjected to haldi vatna as kids, though it didn't do much to keep the body hair down like it was supposed to...I still giggle at the haldi vatna on brides and grooms.

May I propose a campaign for Mutineers - can we please fight to remove the term "curry" (when used generically) as in "curry spices" from American discourse?

Come on, Ms Pea....whats that they used to teach in med school? you treat a cold , it goes away in a week, or else it lasts for seven days! The haldi milk with lots of sugar really helps.....

feed a fever starve a cold? i dunno.. all i know and swear by are airborne tablets.. they worked in india in november when my parents got sick and i got away free from anything...

semidesi:
don't know the recipe, but will ask momma bean tonight when i talk to her..i never drink it.. it just looks vile.. but i'm sure it works..

heck if this haldi thing takes over the world...

could protect against diseases such as heart disease, cancer and Alzheimer’s…

i will be outta a job.. :)

Dearest Pea, if those particular circumstances ever happened, I would not mourn your unemployement. ;)

sriram:
i would rejoice...
that would be the greatest moment in the world...
i hate cancer.. hence the cure of it would be fantastic...

(as i wait in the unemployment line...)
:)

Racist comments in the USA? Shocking.

Now I'm curious about the haldi milk thing...what's the recipe?

For an 8 oz glass of milk. 1 teaspoon (not heaping) of haldi, 1 teaspoon (heaping) of brown sugar or honey or I actually prefer jaggery (gur). You have to let the milk boil well with the haldi and sweetner. The haldi really does a number on colds especially on your throat and certainly helps.

May I propose a campaign for Mutineers - can we please fight to remove the term "curry" (when used generically) as in "curry spices" from American discourse?

I hate hate hate the word curry. I'm tired of explaining to people that it's simply the generic term for 'sauce'. What kind of curry? There are 100s of curries out of India depending on where you go. It gets on my nerves so bad when people throw it around like that's the main dish. Then yesterday I was in Waldbaums and I noticed they added an entire section of Indian foods to the International aisle. I was excited because I saw a ton of Patak's jars and lo and behold there it was "Mild Curry" "Medium Curry" "Hot Curry" made by an Indian company!!! What kind of curry? Who the hell knows...it was just curry!

If we are honest with ourselves we will admit that our bodily odors...do indeed smell like the foods we eat

My mom has told me how when she first came to the U.S. everyone smelled like meat to her, and how repulsive she found this omnipresent essence du bologna.

I didn't understand what she meant until my undergrad years, when I took part in an annual campus perambulation sans clothing (not so uncommon in northeastern colleges) - there at the 'starting gate' (which was the basement of a dorm), surrounded by fifty or so nekkid peers, I was assaulted by an odor that I had known only once, while passing a row of Armenian Quarter butcher stalls in Old Jerusalem on a hot day. Ay yay yay!

The smell was enough to keep me a strict vegetarian for several years thereafter. And that much nakedness would make anyone a Never Nude.

yo, i like to juice fresh turmeric with carrots and ginger, it wails! btw, what are the best ways to remove turmeric stains?

See Chris Rock on Robitussin. For a lot of us growing up in Desh haldi was our Robitussin. Farmers even use it to seal minor leaks in water pipes.

JOAT’s recipe @31 is the real thing. If it works for Lata Mangeshkar, it should be fine for us plebs.

Jack Kerouac wore khakis. I mention this for no particular reason :)

We just ran a short story writing contest at Kahani where the kids were asked to pen a story that had to include the words cousin, river, and -- you guessed it -- turmeric. Talk about imaginative! We got everything from yellow crocodiles to Fighting Yellow Warrior Bird!

Curry is great. But tea with milk is not. Black tea for me from now on.

SP: May I propose a campaign for Mutineers - can we please fight to remove the term "curry" (when used generically) as in "curry spices" from American discourse?

You have my support on that one.

Curcumin, found in tumeric, is also implicated as a possible therapy for Cystic Fibrosis. Here's the article in PDF form for all you med geeks out there (holla back!)It's thought to open CFTR channels in a non-ATP dependent manner, but does require phosphorylation by protein kinase A (you can't fight city hall or thermodynamics).

Hey Siddharth, Anna already used that reference to title one of her posts sometime back: "Pore some thekalikya on me..."

Is this the end of postmodernism? Have we run out of fairly novel references to make?

Hey Siddharth, Anna already used that reference to title one of her posts sometime back: "Pore some thekalikya on me..."

Good catch, Deepa. The reference must have lodged itself in my brain. If you'd like to suggest a new title for this post, I'm all ears.

Hey Siddharth

Oops! Sorry, Siddhartha.

Don't everyone become too sensitive about your possible smell. People from all different cultures smell like the food they eat. They just don't notice their own smell.

My dad was once on a business trip in Germany and had to listen to his German colleague's confidences about the real problems Turks have. "They smell terrible. Must be their food."

Through all of this Dad was trying not to retch from the horrible smell of sauerkraut on the guy's breath!

So wear your Desi food smell proudly. As kavita points out above, there are worse food and non-food things to smell like!

Hee! You're so efficient, Siddhartha. Already changed the title.

But here's my suggestion: "Eat the Yellow Snow."

Soon it will rival Melange in its near mythical properties.

JOAT,

Thanks for the recipe...I'm actually coming down with cold so I'm going to try it.

In England the smell issue has been overcome by conquering the cuisine. With Indian food now being a daily staple for most British diets, no one notices the smell, just like you can't smell garlic on other people if you eat it yourself. What is needed here is a "curry" crusade (I use curry in the common local parlance).

Growing up in the UK, my mom once sent me to school with Jabakushum (indian hair oil) on my hair, to condition my hair. It really does stink. Man, did I get a beating that day.

I have no problem smelling like Indian food. I Cook, therefore I Am.

Curry is great. But tea with milk is not. Black tea for me from now on.

Nooooo....I'll just have to risk my heart. I am not switching to black tea!
Turmeric is a great cure for zits when freshly ground and applied directly to the face. You have to use the root version, though, not the powder you cook with.

Turmeric is a great cure for zits when freshly ground and applied directly to the face. You have to use the root version, though, not the powder you cook with.

Aren't there some styles of cooking in India that use 'wet spices' (the root itself, more or less mashed into a paste) rather than the dry, powdered versions that most of us are familiar with?

Up until recently most people in India cooked with fresh spices ground up daily from roots and seeds. That's why the same recipes taste so much better over there. Unfortunately I haven't been able to find anyone who will come to my home every day to grind up spices on a stone slab so I have to make do with the dried stuff. I wonder if the fresh stuff makes BO stronger or fainter. Anyone know?

Anyone eat at The Stinking Rose in LA/SF? The food is great and entirely Western. Everything is made with garlic. I mean everything from appetizer to ice-cream. Then you sweat garlicky (not to mention other bodily functions) for three days. Just make sure all members of the household go together. Else it's clear who the smell is coming from :)

For a lifelong vegetarain like me, it was a hard time adjusting to the meat/bbq smell that was present everywhere in US. No matter what the restaurants served, they all smelled like

meat

I wonder if the fresh stuff makes BO stronger or fainter.

I have a well developed theory about this. I don't think the "curry smell" is your body actually exuding the aroma from your pores. I think it's the poor ventilation in American homes which are not designed for airconditioning and have sealed orifices everywhere. It's not like when you get off the plane in India, you are assaulted by the smell of Indian food. There is an "India smell", just like there's an "America smell" (open a suitcase from either country in the other and you'll see what I mean) but neither one is a food smell. I can't describe the India smell, but sniff a piece of block printed fabric that hasn't been washed yet and there it is. The America smell is sort of a mixture of soap and lotion, but it's the same regardless of what soaps and lotions the owner of the suitcase uses. Anyway, so I think the curry smell in the US is because of all the molecules floating around your poorly ventilated house that land on your hair and clothes. I have no proof to back it up, but that's what I think. Every time I opened up my suitcase in college after a break at my parents home in the US, the "curry smell" wafted through my dorm room.

When I was in high school, my guidance counselor called me into his office. I had just moved from India a few months before. He proceeded to tell me that one of my teachers had asked him to pass along that I "smelt funny". He reported that she thought it must have been something I was eating. I went to a high school in a very cosmopolitan part of America with lots of international students from literally all over the world. I was completely flabbergasted by the conversation. In a rare moment of self-defense for me at the time, I told him exactly what I thought, which was that it was a completely inappropriate personal attack under the guise of guidance. He was actually a really great guy and immediately apologized and said that he personally didn't think I smelled but had felt obligated to pass along the information. Anyway, despite my stand in support of my body odor, I surmised that the "funny smell" might have been the Vicco Turmeric Ayurvedic Cream that I had been using (but washing my face afterwards) and I never used it again.

Desishiksa, that is just absolutely shocking! I am completely flabbergasted that this comment would be made in high school of all places where they surely must be aware of how fragile teen self esteem is. It sounds like you are a strong person and therefore were not scarred by the incident. Good for you. I still can't use indian hair oil I have to say (#45) so I especially admire you.

This thread has made me very aware of my aroma - I made some delicious lamb kofta last night. I have showered and washed my hair this morning as I do every morning before coming into the office and my work clothes never see the inside of my kitchen but now I'm wondering if everyone can smell lamb kofta. And if they can, are they enjoying it? Maybe I'm making my co-workers feel hungry.

See Chris Rock on Robitussin. For a lot of us growing up in Desh haldi was our Robitussin. Farmers even use it to seal minor leaks in water pipes

dear god...i was thinking the same thing.

One day I came home from work and found my cat with yellow all over his face. Apparently he had had a mishap, cut himself and my mother had generously rubbed haldi all over his face! He didn't even midn it. He's pure white. It took nearly a month before I saw the stain from his fur disappear!!

hahahahahahahaha I'm going to try that.

I still can't use indian hair oil I have to say (#45) so I especially admire you.

Oh, don't. It would have been admirable if I had continued to use the Turmeric Cream but I gave it up :)

Maybe my theory of smell is flawed, since my dog just smells like dog, not like curry, when I take him out of the house. So maybe you do have to eat it to truly smell of it. I wonder if the leftover-sambar-and-rice eating dogs in Chennai smell like sambar.

There've also been examples cited (don't ask me for sample size/methodology details) that Indians (at least in desh) have far lower rates of colon cancer than Westerners, and a possible theory was turmeric. Google to your hearts' content.

But tea with milk is not. Black tea for me from now on.

I wonder if the same is true for soymilk. I put Silk creamer in my tea. It's the best!

Anyone eat at The Stinking Rose in LA/SF?

I loved that place in SF and while we were sitting in there we didn't realize how strong that smell is. We all got in the car after dinner and everyone was quiet. About 5 minutes into the ride one person finally broke the silence with "Woah do you smell that?" We all started laughing. We were all reeking. That stuff felt like it was in the fibers of our clothes.

Anyone eat at The Stinking Rose in LA/SF?

Haha, by the time I got through the bread and garlic thing, appetizers and my entree, I was so garlicked out that I thought the garlic ice-cream was refreshing. ;)

the smell? please! like deepa said:

People from all different cultures smell like the food they eat. They just don't notice their own smell.

the only problem from haldi, if any, is the color staining everything yellow.

One day I came home from work and found my cat with yellow all over his face.... He's pure white.

ha! it takes real long to get the yellow out doesn't it? and it's always mom's fault, too. go through the list of comments and you'll notice how most of us have a story with dear mammi.

This may be the topic of a whole new blog, but why doesn't the food network ever do any ethnic cooking shows (by which I mean other than italian)? As much as I used to enjoy the channel it has now become a source of TV Prozac. Warm fuzzy comfort cooking for Those Who Will Not Cook. Indian cooks - we need to start the crusade with the media and we need to start now!

Sorry just a beef of mine.

Now I have to make sure Mrs Kobayashi doesn't see this story, else I'd never hear the end of "turmeric cures everything" (not to mention "I told you so"). We already consume vast quantities of the stuff as it is. I'm starting to yellow around the extremities.

Haldi cures everything.

And the only time you don't put haldi in your food is during a wake. Or at least, that's how it is where I'm from. (You also don't put onions or garlic in your food during a wake.)

As for having yellow extremities, most desi people I've seen have yellow undertones, and I've always attributed that to the haldi. Maybe if I ate more beets I'd have red undertones.

I didn't grow up around enough Indians to know if we all smell like curry or whatever. What I do know is that I lowe it when we do (hella better than smelling like bolonga!!! And besides, most of my friends are a bunch of central coast hippies who smell like something far more fierce than curry). Yesterday, when I finished moving into my new apartment, I discovered that I have a young desi family for neighbors. How did I find out? I smelled the food, of course :) It stopped me dead in my tracks and made me forget that my arms were about to fall off from carrying that huge box of heavy books. I think I stood outside their window for a good 30 seconds, like a creepy stalker or something. Now I have to figure out how to get invited to dinner :)

I agree with Kavita about the "meat smell" on most Americans. It's more subtle, but when they start to sweat... :-/ And if that were bbq ribs or pork that I had smelled coming from my neighbors, I'd have run into my apartment and taken a shower. I wouldn't have thought "Ew, white/black/Latino people are so gross!" It's just their food, and it's different, and that's ok. I just don't want the smell of burning animal parts in my hair, is all. (Yes, I know desis eat meat too!)

On desishika's point, in addition to having good ventilation, eating fibrous food, fresh (uncooked) fruits and vegetables, drinking lots of water will help you cleanse your body of whatever you've got in there, smell and all. WATER I think is most important. And fasting once in a while. Drinking lots of water during a fast is a good cleanse.

Indians (at least in desh) have far lower rates of colon cancer than Westerners, and a possible theory was turmeric.

Another theory involves Indian toilets.

I don't know...why be so paranoid about smelling like your food? "Making sure" to shower after cooking/eating it...ventilating to get all trace of it out of the house...while of course it's good not to have a house that smells like years of old food, are we not buying into the shame inflicted by ignorant people about how our food smells/how "all desis" smell?

have never been to the stinking rose, but a dream of mine is to go to gilroy for their garlic festival... :)

Why?? what was wrong with "Pour some haldi on me?? " That was a good title..

but a dream of mine is to go to gilroy for their garlic festival... :)

Lets go Chickie nothing goes with hummus like garlic :-)

BTW since this is a fact of life that when we make Indian foods our homes smell we may as well learn to deal with it. And I don't come from the "this is how my house smells" school of thought because I don't want to be surrounded by Indian food smell all the time.

There are some great odor neutralizing candles out there. Just leave them on before, thru and after cooking. Fresh Wave as well as Vermont Soy Candles has some good options.

My grandmother used to throw in several sticks of cinnamon (dalchini), several cloves (lavang) and several cardamoms (elichi) into a pot of hot water and let it boil and simmer on the back burner thru her cooking especially if she made fish or lamb. It works like wonders in neutralizing the odor.

but a dream of mine is to go to gilroy for their garlic festival... :)

Lets go Chickie nothing goes with hummus like garlic :-)

done. might even be this summer!

and as for smelling like 'curry' (i hate the word as well), my friend who cooks up a storm got complaints from her neighbors in the apartment complex she and her husband lived in...evenutally they moved out with crazy restrictions they implemented... it was pretty sad..

long live the stinking rose... and onions....and masala...

have never been to the stinking rose, but a dream of mine is to go to gilroy for their garlic festival... :)

I don't know, growing up our house didn't smell like "curry spices" or whatnot, but my mom was a big believer in ventilating and sealing food as soon as it was cooked. I feel like our house more often than not smelled like lachi (cardamom), lavendar, or sandalwood incense.

I went to a comedy club with my boxing team a couple months ago and the comedian, Jeff Dunham, used puppets in his act that he would broing into conversations with the audience. One such puppet was "Phil, The Dead Terrorist." I'm guessing that the turban was supposed to make him part of the Taliban or something.

Wiki says:
"Phil is a skeleton-looking character with eyebrows, who apparently martyred himself in the course of a suicide bombing, but lives on as a skeleton with facial hair. He has problems keeping his feet on the stand and keeps shouting "Foot! Foot! Foot!" to Jeff to keep his feet up. He has a white bandana (turban) that he says was made from boxers. He also shouts "I'll kill you" or "Silence!" to people who make fun of him."

Jeff started a question and ansewer session between Phil and the audience after they had some back and forth banter, inviting us to ask Phil anything. It was sorta cute until one drunk woman yells out in this nasty drawl "Why do you stink?" A lot of people were looking at her booing for being such a downer. The puppet looked at her, repeated, "Why do I stink?" and then looked at Jeff and said, "That's not me, it's HIM!"

I have febreeze handy whenever i go to my rents house

I don't know...why be so paranoid about smelling like your food? "Making sure" to shower after cooking/eating it...ventilating to get all trace of it out of the house...while of course it's good not to have a house that smells like years of old food, are we not buying into the shame inflicted by ignorant people about how our food smells/how "all desis" smell?

I don't know if that was in reference to what I said, but just in case it was, I should mention that I'm not paranoid about it. I love the smell of desi food, even if it's on desi people :) Ventilation in your house and circulation in your body is good for health reasons. And I wouldn't automatically consider someone who didn't like the "curry smell" to be racist. They might be racist, like the people who commented on RedOrbit.com, but it might just be that they don't dig the food, like I don't dig bolonga. I try to assume the better case.

but a dream of mine is to go to gilroy for their garlic festival... :)

Festival might be fun, but you do NOT want to end up in Gilroy on any other day (which you almost invariably will, if you get lost trying to find your way up to San Francisco from LA).

My grandmother used to throw in several sticks of cinnamon (dalchini), several cloves (lavang) and several cardamoms (elichi) into a pot of hot water and let it boil and simmer on the back burner thru her cooking especially if she made fish or lamb. It works like wonders in neutralizing the odor.

And if you eat something heavy in cinnamon, cloves and cardamom, you'd neutralize the odor in your body too (if you wanted to, of course :). You'd actually smell sweet and pleasant. Cinnamon is the best.

Ack, sorry, I've been spelling "bologna" wrong.

I don't know if that was in reference to what I said, but just in case it was, I should mention that I'm not paranoid about it. I love the smell of desi food, even if it's on desi people :) Ventilation in your house and circulation in your body is good for health reasons.

Hi Shruti, it wasn't in reference to what you said specifically. I just felt, reading, that there was a tone emerging on the thread that "of course" we should work frantically to eliminate every trace of Indian food smell from our bodies and houses. While I of course agree that houses should be well-ventilated and bodies cleaned, as I in fact had stated in that same comment, I felt that over several comments it was starting to sound like it is necessary to make sure no one suspects that one ever eats Indian food. People don't have to dig the food, or the smell, but when they turn it into "you smell bad/your food is smelly/Indians smell bad" that is crossing a line.

And if such an extreme attitude exists among some of us (again not that we shouldn't ventilate but that we must eradicate all trace) then might it not come from comments complaining about how we/our food smells? And those kinds of comments come from ignorant people (I never used the word racist, although some would be) who, among other things, don't realize that they and their houses have a smell too.

driving by - thot i'd stop and chime in with random thots

does haldi really add anything to a dish other than the color - heck ive stopped cooking with it because it even colors tupperware yellow - and not noticed any diff.

and i tried joat's recipe for haldi-milk once - at the behest of a friend-no-more, whose herbalist dad had passed it to him. i was belching these sour bubbles all evening and wanted to scrape clean my insides with a crampon it felt like that. ymmv.

hey! ditch grammy's homeishtyle cooking - you can cater to your desi palates wivout drenching oneself in veird odors - maybe it's because i have a rather huge nose - like a camel - but stale oil smells are rather disruptive. one doesnt need to cook with a cup of oil and handful of chilis forthe same effect. experiment! think of it as creative you rather than dowdy you and maybe it'll be more palatable for you, ubersexual you's.

a couple of tips - i actually got this when i was studying sambhar preparation is that the masala can be prepared well in advance and kept inthe freezer for freshness - and that takes care of the daily pungentitude. The same goes with fried onions or stuff one uses to add as the flavoring ingredient to dal.
summary - make all your pungent stuff separately and in bulk and store in freezer until time to use.

be cool. emus rule.

I think the smell in desi homes and on desi bodies has to do with the amount of spices, chili and oil used in their cooking rather than the spices, chili and oil themselves. I know alot of desi and non desi vegetarians who all cook Indian food to one degree or another. Now, the desis that cook only or primarily Indian food tend to use way more chili, spices and pungent oils like mustard (especially in they are Bengali) than the non-desi vegetarian Indian food lovers. Desi and non-desis alike who mix up their diet with other types of cuisine than just exclusively Indian, tend to not have that heavy distinct "desi" or "curry" aroma in their homes. I cook alot of Indian food, but I go light on the spices and chilis and I don't use mustard or other bad oils like "canola" (whats a canola anyway?). I use olive oil or ghee - sparingly. On top of that I do alot of "raw" or "bland" foods also, as well as other international cuisines. I have a desi friend on the other hand who uses one stick of butter whenever he makes a subji, and fries alot of chilies in it! This is his daily fare. His house, car, clothes and body smell just like the smoke that furiously fumes through his kitchen whenever he cooks.

Moderation would be the key.

I love the smell of desi food, even if it's on desi people :)

...

hey, I was told by my good Jamaican friend that white people smell like wet chicken!

Then Jamaicans must smell like hot jerk chicken, coz that's their specialty.

My S.O. says the female genitals taste like chicken - even if they are vegetarians. Unfortunately he loves chicken. Or would that be fortunately?

But yeah, cinnamon and cardomon smell nice. I think the offending smell is chillies fried in carcenogenic oil, and maybe hing, which is pretty intense (I used to store it in the garage until I got used to it. Now I can't even smell it and it's my favorite spice. I use too much for most people's tastes.)

Speaking of hing.

Non-garlic Garlic Bread;

Spread olive oil and hing on a slices of fresh bread and put them under the grill for a few minutes. Yummy!

does haldi really add anything to a dish other than the color - heck ive stopped cooking with it because it even colors tupperware yellow - and not noticed any diff.

Haldi mos def has it's own flavor, and if you put too much into whatever you're making, you'll ruin it because the flavor is so overpowering.

you can cater to your desi palates wivout drenching oneself in veird odors - maybe it's because i have a rather huge nose - like a camel - but stale oil smells are rather disruptive.

What you call the "stale oil smells" is actually rancid oil. If you heat your oil beyond it's smoking point, it becomes rancid. And it doesn't just smell bad, it's also carcinogenic. So olive oil is good for you, but you can't fry in it because it has a smoking point of only 375-400 degrees. Saffalower oil has one of the higest smoking points, so that's better for frying.

summary - make all your pungent stuff separately and in bulk and store in freezer until time to use.

...um, nooooooooo! I like to have my dinner made from the freshest possible ingredients (local organic is ideal), prepared from scratch on the day of specifically for that dinner, and cooked just minutes before I eat it. *sigh* hairy_d, just come over to my place for dinner, ok?

Some people burn the spices, which leads to a more pungent smell (and makes me caugh and sneeze, but I am way atopic and everything irritates my nasal passages), but not in my opinion, a better flavor. We had this conversation a few years ago on SM in the comment sections - the consensus was: don't burn, open windows, run fan and change clothes frequently. That is if it bothers you. If not, that's between you and the guy you sit next to on the subway.....and frankly, given the sheer and utter disgustingness and embarrasment that is the subway in my city (note, I don't name it based on bans in the past when it comes to dissing said city), some spicy smell would be refreshing.

* I know I owe a follow-up to a political post from ages back and I'm getting to it! I promise!

Oh, and Shruti's comment about rancid oil is right on. Change oil too! It's good for you!

...um, nooooooooo! I like to have my dinner made from the freshest possible ingredients (local organic is ideal), prepared from scratch on the day of specifically for that dinner, and cooked just minutes before I eat it. *sigh* hairy_d, just come over to my place for dinner, ok

But Shruti you don't make the actual masala you use in cooking from scratch each time do you? I make my sauce and all the other stuff from scratch but masala has to be stored in mass quantities. No way I'd make it fresh everyday, no time.

does haldi really add anything to a dish other than the color - heck ive stopped cooking with it because it even colors tupperware yellow - and not noticed any diff

Other than health benefits it's mostly used for color in foods. It does offer storage benefits in pickled product. It's a root related to Ginger, even looks like it and I think majority of the turmeric in the world comes from Maharashtra, I forget which village. But yes it's brutal on tupperwear not to mention french manicure :-)

Why use oil? Ghee gives a more traditional, healthy and authentic Indian taste. And it is zero cholesterol.

Refined and processed oils are total crap.

Growing up in Iowa, I never had anyone make any comments about the 'curry smell', but Mom was vigilant about running the fan and she hates, hates, hates the taste of 'burned' spices.

I did thing my neighbors houses smelled like diet Pepsi and cleaning solutions.......

Does someone want to talk to Mistress of raw spices about the ghee thing ?

Whats the ghee thing?

I thought it was healthy.

zero cholesterol, 100% fat, right? Desi cardiologists may now commence commenting: come on, I know you are out there! I am not familiar with the literature well enough to know which is healthier, but there are some papers suggesting ghee may not be that good for you. That uses up my meager knowledge. Back to people who know better.....

Is Ghee healthy ?

Thanks for that link. I'll pass it on to my desi and non-desi ghee enthusiasts. I rarely use it.

I use raw olive, hemp and flax oils (cannot be heated), to get my EFAs - omegas 3, 6 and 9.

So what would you all recommend as a healthy cooking oil? Is there any such thing?

But Shruti you don't make the actual masala you use in cooking from scratch each time do you? I make my sauce and all the other stuff from scratch but masala has to be stored in mass quantities. No way I'd make it fresh everyday, no time.

I do as much as I can. I buy the spices in their fresh and original form in small quantities (cardamom in the pods, whole turmeric root, whole ginger root, cinnamon sticks, coriander in the seed form, etc). I know it would be impractical for you, living in NY, but it's not impractical for me because I live on the central coast of California (where this stuff is readily avaliable year-round, for relatively cheap). Also, I buy from a food cooperative that offers the spices in bulk form, meaning you can buy as much or as little as you want. Instead of buying a newly packaged, bulk-sized bottle of spices every two months, I take my old (small) containers back to the store, get the tare weight, and just refill it with a freshly arrived batch of that spice. When I get home, I have a mortar and pestle and a coffee grinder to grind however much I need for the meal that I'm making. It makes it easier to experiment that way too. (It also tastes better that way, and benefits the independent farmers that supply that kind of demand.)

What you call the "stale oil smells" is actually rancid oil. If you heat your oil beyond it's smoking point, it becomes rancid. And it doesn't just smell bad, it's also carcinogenic. So olive oil is good for you, but you can't fry in it because it has a smoking point of only 375-400 degrees. Saffalower oil has one of the higest smoking points, so that's better for frying.

...um, nooooooooo! I like to have my dinner made from the freshest possible ingredients (local organic is ideal), prepared from scratch on the day of specifically for that dinner, and cooked just minutes before I eat it. *sigh* hairy_d, just come over to my place for dinner, ok?

i'm really touched by your kind offer. if you're ever in TO, i'll make you my famous stew with lentils, barley and oyster mushrooms. very good with dark pump. btw - vere're you at? SF?

Mistress of Raw Spices: sorry for being crytptic. I'm glad someone provided a link.

Shruti: truly one of the joys of living in California is the availability of such fresh ingredients...my one year in Northern California was a culinary delight because of the produce, healthy cooking, and the desi couple in my apartment building who invited me over all the time. I was trying to avoid animal products at the time and went into SF when I wanted vegan chocolate cake. The couple made the best food I have ever tasted. Mumbai couple, transplanted to Northern California, one Christian, one Muslim, neither converted and maintained a household of two faiths.

Really, the wife (with help from the husband) was the best cook ever!

So what would you all recommend as a healthy cooking oil? Is there any such thing?

Any vegetable oils (they are all the same despite perception...Corn, Vegetable, Sunflower, Canola) are good to cook with. Their heating points are different but in terms of poly, mono and saturated fat they are all the same. Olive oil has lower polyunsaturated and higher monosaturated oils which is what gives it the "light" label.

However fat is fat is fat with the average person.

What is a canola?

And isnt' olive oil supposed to not reach high heating temps?

It's a vegetable oil made from rapeseed and contains the lowest polyunsaturated fat as compared to other vegetable oils.

I just found this http://www.shirleys-wellness-cafe.com/canola.htm regarding canola oil.

I stay away from all the in-organic processed and refined oils sold in grocery stores.

I have heard that pure organic coconut oil as found in healthfood stores, as well as GRAPEseed oil, is good. Or other nut oils like almond or sesame, provided they are organic.

Shruti:
Me and Hairy_D at your house tomorrow. I bring chilis from garden. Hokay?

Damn...wrong coast again!:)

Other than health benefits it's mostly used for color in foods. It does offer storage benefits in pickled product. It's a root related to Ginger, even looks like it and I think majority of the turmeric in the world comes from Maharashtra, I forget which village. But yes it's brutal on tupperwear not to mention french manicure :-)

I was in the habit of using haldi everyday in my cooking and my teeth became really yellow too. I love it but don't use it daily anymore.

Oye vye detestable to one ambrosial to another in some cultures haldi is supposed to make you lusty!

Hot milk at night is sometimes given to a newly-wed bridegroom.

Oye vye detestable to one ambrosial to another in some cultures haldi is supposed to make you lusty!

:-)

Hot milk at night is sometimes given to a newly-wed bridegroom.

To put him to sleep right away? :)

oh i'm sure about that - eat enough of it and you can be sure mr/ms yellow teeth (cf #98) wont be getting any for a loooong time - it's enough to make anyone's loins throb with unconsummated yearning. :-)

Are you serious?

Shouldn't I be getting more?

Hot milk at night is sometimes given to a newly-wed bridegroom. To put him to sleep right away? :)

No. It's an old Indian thing. Supposedly makes him more virile.

Yellow teeth may not be viewed as a bad thing in all cultures, hairy_d. Recently saw a drop-dead gorgeous Chinese bride who had the yellowest of teeth. She could easily have whitened it if she so wished.

Hot milk at night is sometimes given to a newly-wed bridegroom.

mistress sez

Shouldn't I be getting more?

Yellow teeth may not be viewed as a bad thing in all cultures, hairy_d.

Indeed ... but then not everyone has that canadian mojo dearies.

And, if a woman eats alot before making love, the resultant baby should be female. And vice versa for the man. Therefore I have seen some people (either wife or husband) fast or eat lightly on that day, and the other spouse feast sumptuously, depending on which gender they want the baby to be.

Don't know how accurate the science is behind it all though.

Mistress of Raw Spices (MRS?):

No. It's an old Indian thing. Supposedly makes him more virile more asleep.

These ancient Indian secrets have their uses ;)

And isnt' olive oil supposed to not reach high heating temps?

http://www.oliveoilsource.com/cooking_olive_oil.htm

If you scroll down to the bottom of this page, it discusses the smoke point of olive oil and its utility for frying. I've used olive oil for frying and have not had problems with it turning rancid. I think it my be a good option.

If you scroll down to the bottom of this page, it discusses the smoke point of olive oil and its utility for frying. I've used olive oil for frying and have not had problems with it turning rancid. I think it my be a good option.

Thanks, SDM. I found that really helpful!

Mistress of Raw Foods:
I don't wanna get on your bad side but speaking as a gym teacher/personal trainer, the raw food diet is bad science. Please reconsider it for your health.

http://www.livescience.com/humanbiology/060704_bad_raw_food.html

Hot milk at night is sometimes given to a newly-wed bridegroom.

Unfortunately he loves chicken.

And, if a woman eats alot before making love, the resultant baby should be female. And vice versa for the man. Therefore I have seen some people (either wife or husband) fast or eat lightly on that day, and the other spouse feast sumptuously, depending on which gender they want the baby to be.

Don't know how accurate the science is behind it all though.

Coach -

Check out www.rawfamily.com and www.thegardendiet.com

Healthy as hell!

Thanks, SDM. I found that really helpful!

But of course, Deepa. I love food. And I love talking about it :)

I don't wanna get on your bad side but speaking as a gym teacher/personal trainer, the raw food diet is bad science. Please reconsider it for your health.

I can't imagine eating entirely raw foods. I do find eating more raw veggies and fruit, less meat in general and otherwise following a fairly basic diet has helped me a lot. There are definite benefits to incorporating raw veggies into your daily diet that don't need justification.

i'm really touched by your kind offer. if you're ever in TO, i'll make you my famous stew with lentils, barley and oyster mushrooms. very good with dark pump. btw - vere're you at? SF?

I wish I lived in SF. I'm actually in Santa Barbara, which barely qualifies as CenCal, and some people say we're totally SoCal. But I'm here and I have the NorCal/CenCal spirit! I mean, I hella say "hella" :)
And you best expect me to take up that offer if I'm ever in TO.

oh strike me yellow. that guy who told me to drink that haldi milk was from maharashtra as well.. "Aargh!! you snake Iago! i do detect in the thee, a shade of haldee. I should have shunned that concoction vile, rather than throw up all night my stinky bile".

:D nice. But maybe you're just lactose intolerant? If so, try raw milk. Lactose intolerant people can drink raw milk because it's the irridation/pastuerization of milk and other dairy products that kills the enzyme needed to properly digest lactose. Raw milk, obviously, retains the enzyme.

Shruti: Me and Hairy_D at your house tomorrow. I bring chilis from garden. Hokay?

Damn...wrong coast again!:)

Well, if you did come over for dinner, you wouldn't be sorry - for the food or for the coast. So go ahead, bring the chilis. I have to figure out something to do with this babaco and sapote that I bought for no other reason than because they looked funny. I'll also figure out what to do with the four different varieties of avocados (Haas, Rincon, Bacon and Pinkerton), seven different varieties of rice (from Asian to African), five different varieties of onions (red, white, brown, cipolline and pearl), four colors of bell peppers (green, yellow, red and orange), five different kinds of squash (sunburst, spaghetti, crookneck, zucchini, and the very phallic butternut), four different varieties of potatoes (red, Yukon, Russet and Hanna sweet), raspberries, strawberries, blackberries, grapes (think Califo