A Spicy Taste of South Asia

Since college, I've consciously tried to broaden my
food horizons. Once an extremely picky eater, refusing to eat anything but plain ziti, peanut butter and jelly, and pizza, my efforts have paid off.

Ethiopian food taught me how fun it is to eat with your hands, Peruvians proved to me that a cold seafood dish is not so scary, and Australians offered kangaroo as a popular meat option. Discovering all these cuisines, and more, I learned to appreciate foreign cultures take on tastes and flavors. The only one I cannot quite come to terms with is Indian food.

Three bites into a main course of Indian food I begin to perspire,
and two bites later my taste buds are fried. Time and time again friends coax me into acquiring a taste for the South Asian cuisine, but to no avail. I am always left with only nan bread to feast on.

When my friend and I strolled in to Tandoori on North Main Street
for a late dinner this past Thursday, I had my reservations.

Scrolling through the menu, it offered more options than
Indian restaurants I visited in the past. (Ignorantly, I narrow Indian food down to curry, tikka marsala, and butter chicken.) I came across a dish called Biryani. The description: beef with basmati rice and vegetables. This could work, I said to myself. I know enough to know the spices come in the different sauces, and if I take away the sauce, I take away the spice. Perfect.

When our waiter came over to fill our water glasses and take
our orders I felt confident that I might have found an Indian dish I can enjoy.

“I’ll have the Beef Biriyani,” I said trying not to butcher
the pronunciation.

My waiter shook his head and waived his hand as if he just
discarded something in a negotiation.

“Biriyani is not true Indian food,” he affirmed. “To get
Indian tastes you need sauce and flavor. Biryani is just rice and meat.”

My foray into an unknown Indian food came to a dead end.

“What kind of meat you want?” he asked

“Beef or lamb,” I answered.

“You like coconut taste?” he asked.

I shook my head no.

“How spicy you like it?” he said moving his hand up and down
from mid to extreme.

“Super mild,” I said with my hand below my waste.

“Ok, Beef Bhuna,” he said pointing to me before moving his
finger to my friend.

Our waiter went through the same routine with my friend, who
does not mind a bit of heat in his dish.

“Ok Lamb Vindaloo, spicy,” he said as he took our menus.

“If you don’t like anything, you tell me and we change it.”

He offered this kind clause to us ten minutes before the kitchen was about to close.

Waiting for our main course, my friend and I noshed on
vegetable samosas (a flaky Indian version of an empanada) and nan bread.

Our conversation quickly turned to the spiciness of food. Why do some people love it, while others can't handle it? How do we acquire those tastes?

I was always astonished when my Indian friends in college
laughed off the mildness of dishes in America.

“These are so tame compared to what we have at home”, they
would say as I rushed for the water jug.

My friend sitting across from me regularly eats habaneros
and hot chilies, always pushing himself to go spicier with hot wings and
anything else one can try with a large range of spiciness.

Perception or not, I felt the heat in full force when I took a bite of my friend’s Lamb Vindaloo. After a nickel sized bite of lamb in sauce

I rushed a glass of water down my throat and took a break from my Beef Bhuna.

“Everything ok?” our waiter asked.

We both nodded

“Not too spicy?” he asked pointing to my Beef Burha.

“Not at all,” I responded.  

“And spicy enough?” he asked my friend.

He nodded satisfied.

“If you want I can go spicier,” our waiter assured us.

We all had a chuckle and agreed the temperature and spice
was fine for each of us.

I must hand it to the cooks and waiters at Tandoori. They successfully
put me on the path to eventually eating Indian food on a regular basis.

Tandoori – Taste of
India is located at 163 North Main Street. It is open daily from 12pm to 10pm.

Take-out and delivery
are available. Main courses range from $13 to $25.