What is it that makes Indian residencies smell so bad?

Ilmater

Diamond Member
Jun 13, 2002
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I live in an apartment complex with a lot of Indian residents. Last night I was walking by one apartment where an Indian resident was walking out when that familiar smell of cumin assaulted my senses (I like cumin ok, but not a huge fan of the smell). I was 5 - 6 feet away from the door and I smelled it the instant she opened the door.

As I walked away, I found myself thinking the following thoughts:

- How can their homes/apartments smell so strongly of that stuff?
- How does it travel to every room (I had an Indian neighbor growing up, and they had a massive house that smelled the same in every room, no matter how far from the kitchen it was)?
- Do Indian people put cumin in EVERY DISH? If I make something with cumin for dinner, the smell is gone by the morning, at least, but the smell never goes away... I'd think that getting a place to smell like that perpetually would take at least 80% of the meals made every week (for months at a time) to include it.
- Is it not cumin that's making the smell? Is there some kind of Hindu ritual that requires burning something with a strong smell to it that causes this smell? Is it just spice? I know they like spicy food, but I didn't think that meant every meal was spicy.
- Does it go away? I would think that it would take some kind of special cleaning to get the smell out of the walls (carpet in most apartments is replaced frequently anyway).

I really have no idea. Please fill me in.

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dullard

Elite Member
May 21, 2001
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This actually is a repost. If you search hard enough, I think it was ~1 year ago. Lots of good replies in that older thread.
 

moshquerade

No Lifer
Nov 1, 2001
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Originally posted by: dullard
This actually is a repost. If you search hard enough, I think it was ~1 year ago. Lots of good replies in that older thread.

just search curry.
 

Vonkhan

Diamond Member
Feb 27, 2003
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I dunno, I usually eat pizza for dinner :D ...

but ya, most spices when cooked usually give off strong smells & carpetted apartments soak them up.

It does go away, my relatives burn an insane amount of candles which dissipates the smell pretty fast. Worst thing to do is to use an airfreshner - the combination will totally gag u.
 

Ilmater

Diamond Member
Jun 13, 2002
7,516
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Originally posted by: dullard
This actually is a repost. If you search hard enough, I think it was ~1 year ago. Lots of good replies in that older thread.
I tried, I swear. Searched for Indian, smell, etc. and found nothing.
 

Tyrant222

Senior member
Nov 25, 2000
802
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well i think you know what the smell is, the curry in the food.

I don't like the smell either. When my parents are cooking with it we open up all the windows. Burning some incense helps too. Its not that its in every dish, its just that it sticks around for awhile. They probably cook with it every day.
 

Kaido

Elite Member & Kitchen Overlord
Feb 14, 2004
48,802
5,506
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I had this issue in my last apartment. I love Indian food, but the smell was overpowering sometimes. It made my wife nauseous; she won't even try Indian food after living there for a year. Too bad, I love the stuff. Anyway, the smell never really went away.
 

BoomerD

No Lifer
Feb 26, 2006
64,462
12,824
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Several years ago, we were looking to rent a house in a town with lots of Indians/Sikhs...You could always tell which ones had been previously occupied by those ethnic groups...the smell would just about knock you over when you opened the door...
MOST Indian homeowners around here have a kitchen built in their garage, to keep those heavy smells out of the houses...and it helps, but IMO, doesn't totally eliminate it...
 

mb

Lifer
Jun 27, 2004
10,233
2
71
It really is a lingering smell, too. I remember when I was apartment hunting, the landlord showed me this one apartment that just had an awful smell, even though no one was living there at the moment. He said an Indian couple used to lived there and just moved out a few weeks before.

 

daveymark

Lifer
Sep 15, 2003
10,573
1
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they bathe in curry too, and they also use curry in place of deodorant

some will confuse "curry whiff" with "soup whiff", which permeates nearly every apartment complex hallway, regardless of ethnicity.

;)
 

Kwaipie

Golden Member
Nov 30, 2005
1,326
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The last apartment I moved into had been previously occupied by a curry afficianado. Had to replace the carpet and paint the inside of all the kitchen cabinets. I used to love a nice chicken curry. No more.