Live data from Hacker News

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

news.ycombinator.com

371–380 of 454 posts

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

#372

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 :)

It's really not a question of not having a taste for it, or not being able to develop it. I'm 100% certain I could develop it, as my grandmother has -- due to seemingly inherent interest -- consumed ever spicier dishes.

My father, uncle, and I have no interest in developing our taste buds to consume ever spicier foods in the way my mother's family does. I simply am happy to eat whatever. So many things taste good, there is no reason to eat incredibly spicy food. That being said, half of my spice tolerance (which is incredibly incredibly high) is due to being forced to consume it by my mother.

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

#373
post #268

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A bunch of us Westerner looking types went to a Thai restaurant in Mountain View. This was many years ago and I don't recall the restaurant. We ordered some shared dish and were asked how spicy we wanted it, 1-10. We said 10. The whole "are you sure?" thing a few times. They brought the dish out. We said "this really isn't 10 spicy." The server said, "next time say you want it 10 on the Thai scale". Sigh. I live in N…

Why haven't we started calling out this racism and shunning it? It's better if everyone is on the same page for spiciness levels and judging peoples' tastes based on their skin color is inaccurate and offensive.

Please don't needlessly jack up the flame levels here. Restaurant workers trying to figure out what their customers will be happy with is hardly "racism" that needs "calling out". Moreover the online trope of "calling out" is something HN can do without.

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

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

#374

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When Midwesterners complain about how spicy something is, they're not talking about the pain from the capsaicin. They're referring to the unusual flavors from backing spices like cinnamon, coriander, cumin, turmeric, clove, cardamom, paprika, fenugreek, bay, et. al.. These are not "hot" spices, but people still have issues with them.

I'm sorry, this is contrary to every experience I've had. 'Spiciness' refers to heat, not to combination of spices.

As an Indian, for me it refers to both. "Spiciness" may bring heat to the tongue (chillies) or may be easy on the tongue but hell in your stomach (Andhra spicy). the latter is less likely to be taken as "heat" but it is more of a combination of spices.

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

#375
Has YC become a meme? Yet another company doing the same thing, and claiming subjective advantages over the competition.

Almost like companies are selected for being part of a story ('poor college student craves mums food') rather than being an actual business.

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

#376
post #375

Has YC become a meme? Yet another company doing the same thing, and claiming subjective advantages over the competition. Almost like companies are selected for being part of a story ('poor college student craves mums food') rather than being an actual business.

You can appreciate the willingness to jump and start a business and take it as far as being ready to ship out your product, but I agree this product just seems redundant. It has so many flaws that people have pointed out. Literally the only point the founder made that separated this from the competition was that 'ours tastes better', even though it is way more expensive.

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

#377
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.

> In my experience non-westerners tend to underestimate the level of spiciness that westerners can handle

As someone who owned a restaurant; that is not it most likely. The problem is that people say ‘super spicy!!!’ (or bloody if it is a steak) and then send it back because they find it inedible. And you do not want to cause a scene nor can you bite back too hard, so you just replace it with bland and overcooked. It is a shame but many places just want to prevent that issue.

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

#378

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…

I used to have a roommate who used to cook a kilo of uncut green chillies in a pan; adding crushed red chillies & other spices. Then he would eat it with Roti & pickle.

I, for one, can not eat chopped green chillies as a spice in a dish unless it is fried well in Tadka to kill its hotness.

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

#379
post #268

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.

A bunch of us Westerner looking types went to a Thai restaurant in Mountain View. This was many years ago and I don't recall the restaurant. We ordered some shared dish and were asked how spicy we wanted it, 1-10. We said 10. The whole "are you sure?" thing a few times. They brought the dish out. We said "this really isn't 10 spicy." The server said, "next time say you want it 10 on the Thai scale". Sigh. I live in N…

Was it Amron Thai On Castro Street ?

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

#380
post #156

Best of luck! I remember the good 'ol CMU days when we'd hit up "IG" (aka India Garden on Atwood - now closed) or "Taste" (aka Taste of India)... Certainly a far cry - I can imagine - from a good home-cooked meal. My suggestion: was looking for a video on your site... Something like that on the very first page might help people understand better what is being offered and how easy it is to prepare.

I also have fond memories of India Garden with their half-price menu after 11pm. Sad to hear they closed.
Post reply on HN