Cooking Indian makes my apartment smell like "B.O." for DAYS. Why?! Is it a particular spice? Suggestions?

Question

I don't mean to be disrespectful of Indian culture: My one flatmate makes great tasting Indian food, but the entire apartment smells for DAYS of "body odor", even after opening the window and burning candles. It gets into the clothes, sheets, and towels and drives the two non-cookers nuts! We don't want to ban Indian food and my flatmate is willing to leave out the offensive spice. We all did a sniff test, and no one spice seems to be the culprit. For some reason, it does not have an "Indian food" smell, it smells of sweat. Yuck! We have other Indian food enthusiasts and their homes don't have the problem. The smell is embarassing and VERY HARD to get rid of. He cooks mainly lentils...is it the lentils that are giving off the smell? He has a damaged sense of smell so he needs to spice heavily and isn't as aware of the overly offensive odor.

We are DESPERATE for tips on:
- which spice to cut out
- how to lessen smells while cooking
- how to help get rid of the smell after

Answer 1

Here are some tips:
1. leave the home well-ventilated. Use fans, leave windows open, use exhausts to the fullest intensity.
2. Cover all food (prepared or unprepared, even veggies and spices like onions, garlic etc...). Use ziplocks and saran wraps to store any food.
3. wipe platforms, tables...with anti-odor wet wipes like pledge lemon.
4. wash dishes promptly...do not wait hours to dishwash.
5. vacuum kitchen floors after cooking.
6. wash wiping cloths promptly.
7. Use air wicks like glade or use kitchen sprays especially near trash.

Hope that helps.

Answer 2

Most ethnic foods leave a scent in the house. Indian foods have quite a bit of different spices. Fenugrek is quite smelly and would not make a difference if left out in the cooking and may help with the smell.

Another problem is using OLD USED oil for frying as this leaves a lingering smell. Replace new oil with each cooking.

Candles. Open vents and windows.

Answer 3

there are SOOO many different dishes, even indian dishes that do not have offensive odours.. tell ur friend to broaden his repertoire for one....

- fenugreek is skanky
- cumin is a rude spice
- Nigella is stinkay (Kalonji)
- Curry leaves

That's the list of offenders in my opinion- you can make FANTASTIC curries with the following- which has a fresh vibrant scent. - chilli, turmeric, garlic, ginger, coriander, pepper, mustard seeds, fennel seed, coriander ground, cinnamon, nutmeg- the list is endless. Make sure your friend isn't using garamasala - or mixed spice cause all the baddies will be in there

Lessen smells- by covering with a lid at all times, before, during and after cooking... and fill the empty pot with water when its done- wash it straight away. Close all your doors and open all your windows including the ones in that room.

Really its a matter of cooking something new to be honest... maybe take the friend OUT for curry once in a while to lessen the impact... good luck!

Answer 4

The odor is a combo of several things, all are part culprit to the odor. In most Indian cuisine, you will find one, or all of these items:

Curry
Oil
Cumin
Onions
Garlic

All of the items except the oil have very strong smells. When you combine these, and combine it with the oil, it penetrates everything. Best bet to rid of the scent is to clean hard surfaces with citrus oil cleaner, or a mix of 1 part vinegar to 5 parts hot water. You can sub the vinegar with lemon juice, same dilution ratio. For clothes, wash them as usual, and add 1 Tbsp of baking soda to the detergent and wash as usual. To lessen the smell while he is cooking, make use of pot lids, skillet splatter guards, and ventilate by opening the nearest window to the kitchen, and turning on the kitchen hoods above the stove. Hope this helps you.

Answer 5

I can understand your problem. I did face the same one..
what idid is

1.Ventilate
2. don't cook on high heat
3. Hide all your clothes
4. use Heavy Curtains in Cooking zone
5. Finally did my basic cooking(boil lentils in Pressurecooker) and rest in oven
6.burn, incense,incense powder(don't know the name,called samprani),pot pourri once a week.
7. always clean the cooking area with pinesol/bleach after every time.

looks like lotta work..but good food...had to compromise.

Answer 6

its b/c of the onions and garlic. Turn the vent on when you cook, and open windows shut your bedroom door also keeping the food covered more when its cooking will hepl keep the smell from releasing from the pot, b/c the steam that evaporates in the air is what causes the smells, trust me I know.

Answer 7

Curry is a main spice in Indian food and has an unusual smell to those of us who are not used to it. i don't know if the fod will taste the same without it, tho. Try using fabreeze spray, air freshner, and candles. They may help. Good luck!

Answer 8

My suspicion is thyme and/or garlic. Ask him to leave both these spices out and see if it still smells like B.O.

Answer 9

mb this will help,
when my husband cooks, wow stinky,but tastes great.i found he uses alot of fenugreek,and cumin.so usen less is better,especially the fenugreek.and have all fans on and windows open n wear ur not fav clothes.

Answer 10

Lysol nuetra air. I usually buy those one dollar sprays but I saw this buy one get one free packs of these. I was very impressed how they work. gets rid of my pre teen's room odor pretty well, lol