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Launch HN: The Buttermilk Company (YC S18) – Homemade Indian Food in 5 Minutes

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Re: Launch HN: The Buttermilk Company (YC S18) – Homemade Indian Food in 5 Minutes

#351

Post by MPSimmons »

ghaff wrote: post #259
monocasa wrote: post #252

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seriously, I've been to an Indian restraunt where I've ordered something spicy, and the server asks "are you sure". After responding yes, he asked "are you really sure". This whole thing goes on a third time before he finally goes back into the kitchen. About five minutes later his manager comes out "so I heard you ordered it spicy, now I'm not sure you know what that means". I went to school in New Mexico, we used t…

>I went to school in New Mexico I generally think of myself as liking spicy food. I tend to favor Szechuan Chinese and I lived in New Orleans for a few years. When I was in the Santa Fe area last summer, I came to the realization after the first night's dinner that I really needed to order the Hatch chile [corrected] sauce on the side or it was going to be completely overwhelming.

I love driving through Hatch with the windows down in 110F weather. The smell is amazing!

Re: Launch HN: The Buttermilk Company (YC S18) – Homemade Indian Food in 5 Minutes

#352

Post by MPSimmons »

vram22 wrote: post #274
spunker540 wrote: post #250

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It seems many cultures think their culture is the spiciest! I've heard similar boasts from friends of mine who are Mexican, Chinese, Korean, and Indian among others.

I've been reading about cuisines and it seems that Korean can be pretty spicy. Not got a chance to try it, except a dish or two (bibimbap, IIRC, and that was not hot). I like the fact that they use a fair amount of sesame seeds and sesame oil, based on what I've read. Got to try it more some day.

I've had some spicy kimchee before, and that was really good.

Re: Launch HN: The Buttermilk Company (YC S18) – Homemade Indian Food in 5 Minutes

#353

Post by asdfasgasdgasdg »

sarchertech wrote: post #242
t1o5 wrote: post #200

You will have a hard time balancing the spice levels. You can't satisfy both Indian and non-Indian demographic or you will have to have a spicy, less spicy type of each item. As an Indian, I cant stand the westernized non spicy versions of the supposedly authentic Indian foods. So I wouldn't buy them nor eat in those type of Indian restaurants. Its the same case vice versa. Non Indians may not like the spicy versions…

In my experience non-westerners tend to underestimate the level of spiciness that westerners can handle (particularly westerners who are culinarily adventurous), and overestimate the average spiciness of their cuisine. If it's too spicy for me, it's too spicy for 99% of the population of any country, but it's damn near impossible to convince servers of that.

Hottest thing I've ever tasted was undiluted The Man sauce from Dixie's BBQ [1]. Years ago when I interned at Microsoft, they had the interns try the sauce, since we were all from out of town. Whoever had the most would get tickets for the Seahawks game the next evening.

I figured I'd like it, because at the time I was super into hot foods. At least, I was by my own benighted standards. But my adviser told me to take the smallest amount I could, on a toothpick. I said fine, and boy were they right. It didn't feel hot. It felt like I was cutting my tongue with a knife. It only started feeling hot as an inferno after it had spread out through my mouth.

One of the other guys took a spoonful and put it on a bun and ate it in one bite. Then he proceeded to guzzle several cups of milk, before retiring later to the WC. He won the tickets, but apparently was unable to go because he was still feeling digestively sensitive the next day.

These days I don't really fuck around with super hot food any more.

[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dixie%27s_BBQ

Re: Launch HN: The Buttermilk Company (YC S18) – Homemade Indian Food in 5 Minutes

#354

Post by MPSimmons »

ma2rten wrote: post #237
t1o5 wrote: post #200

You will have a hard time balancing the spice levels. You can't satisfy both Indian and non-Indian demographic or you will have to have a spicy, less spicy type of each item. As an Indian, I cant stand the westernized non spicy versions of the supposedly authentic Indian foods. So I wouldn't buy them nor eat in those type of Indian restaurants. Its the same case vice versa. Non Indians may not like the spicy versions…

My guess is that they are not trying target typical westerners. There already is a lot of westernized pre-made Indian food you can buy at the supermarket.

Basically italian spaghetti sauce with turmeric.

Re: Launch HN: The Buttermilk Company (YC S18) – Homemade Indian Food in 5 Minutes

#355

Post by sumedh »

astura wrote: post #256
baddox wrote: post #227

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Coming from small-town Missouri and having traveled very little even within the US, I had literally never heard of any specific Indian dish (authentic or not) until I moved to San Francisco. I had no idea what naan or chicken tikka masala were until my company in SF ordered some.

You should probably know that chicken tikka masala is British, not Indian then. :)

> You should probably know that chicken tikka masala is British, not Indian then.

You have to be careful posting such comments, you might start a war :)

Re: Launch HN: The Buttermilk Company (YC S18) – Homemade Indian Food in 5 Minutes

#356

Post by sumedh »

iamshs wrote: post #343

Good luck to you. I absolutely abhor MTR and other Indian meals out there. They taste yuck and are unappetizing. Hopefully your company will change that. I like how you named it after lassi but buttermilk is not really lassi. I absolutely have no hesitation in saying that you will be successful, if your rasam tastes as good as you say it is. Hopefully you start doing saag soon. One of the old world Punjabi foods, bef…

> They taste yuck and are unappetizing.

Have you done a blind taste test?

Re: Launch HN: The Buttermilk Company (YC S18) – Homemade Indian Food in 5 Minutes

#357

Post by fusiongyro »

repsilat wrote: post #282
fusiongyro wrote: post #261

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Hatch chili sauce It's just called chile.

The spelling of the pepper and the sauce both vary by region.

We're talking specifically about the region in New Mexico in which I live.

Re: Launch HN: The Buttermilk Company (YC S18) – Homemade Indian Food in 5 Minutes

#358

Post by sumedh »

ttcbj wrote: post #276

I don't think I'm exactly in your target market, but I have a related problem: We cook a lot of healthy foods at home (e.g. skinnytaste), and Indian recipes are the only ones that never come out. I suspect it is because we never get the spices right. We went to an indian cooking class many years ago, and the woman who taught it hand ground all the spices herself. The results were amazing, but who has the time? If you…

Look for Shaan Masalas in an Indian store. They have the right spice mix, just follow the instructions on the box.

Re: Launch HN: The Buttermilk Company (YC S18) – Homemade Indian Food in 5 Minutes

#359

Post by fusiongyro »

ghaff wrote: post #273
fusiongyro wrote: post #261

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Hatch chili sauce It's just called chile.

There is often a red sauce option :-) But I wanted to get the Hatch chiles while I had an opportunity to as you don't really see them most other places.

The difference between red and green chile is whether it has been dried, but nobody here calls it sauce (even though it almost always is). Hatch is a town that produces it, but they're technically Anaheim peppers. However, if you walk into any restaurant in New Mexico and say "I'd like the Hatch chili sauce on the side" you're going to get a raised eyebrow. The state question is "red or green?"

Re: Launch HN: The Buttermilk Company (YC S18) – Homemade Indian Food in 5 Minutes

#360

Post by void_starer »

tathougies wrote: post #289
sarchertech wrote: post #242

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In my experience non-westerners tend to underestimate the level of spiciness that westerners can handle (particularly westerners who are culinarily adventurous), and overestimate the average spiciness of their cuisine. If it's too spicy for me, it's too spicy for 99% of the population of any country, but it's damn near impossible to convince servers of that.

Also, lots of Indians find Indian food spicy. My mom and aunts and brother are spice nuts. My grandmother will literally eat raw chilis, but my dad, my uncle, myself, and my grandfather, when he was alive, aren't super into spicy food. My uncle turns read and gets sweaty whenever he eats my mother's food, and my dad and i cope by consuming copious amounts of yogurt. Like, years and years of practice have made me able…

Mor milagai with curd rice is a great way to acquire a taste for chili. From there you can seamlessly move on to raw chilis :)
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