Indians love spicy food and the world knows it. Whichever region you go to in India, every cuisine is no less than a treasure trove of flavours. From Rajasthani Lal Maas to delicious Kerala sambar, these dishes have one thing in common – the spice factor. For most Indians, food doesn’t captivate us until it challenges our spice tolerance. Indian gravies and other dishes have earned a reputation for being extremely hot, and one restaurant in America actually admits it. To help customers choose their spice level, the restaurant allows them to choose the spiciness on a scale from “Zero Spice” to “India Very Spicy”.
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Sharing the menu of an Indian restaurant in the US, a Twitter user wrote, “I just tried ordering Indian food in Bethesda and it’s hilarious”. Looking at the screenshot, it appears that the user was ordering some paneer butter masala. But it is not that the post has gone viral. Below the description of the dish, we see the different levels of spice that the customer can choose from. While spiciness is usually indicated using numbers or words such as “mild”, “spicy” and “very spicy”, here the restaurant had a different approach.
The restaurant described the lowest spice level as “zero spice”, followed by “American mild”, “American medium”, and “American spicy”. Higher spiciness levels were named “Indian mild”, “Indian medium”, “Indian spicy” and “Indian very spicy”.
I Tried Ordering Indian Food In Bethesda And It’s Hilarious: pic.twitter.com/H6EccABzcy— Aditi Shekhar (@aditishekar) April 8, 2023
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Many users found the post funny.
“Does the restaurant really stick to the selected option, or is it just pre-order conditioning so people don’t come back complaining?” one person asked.
Did the restaurant really hinge on the option selected, or is this just pre-order conditioning so people don’t return complaining????? Subrahmanyam KVJ (@SuB8u) April 9, 2023
Responding to him, the person who shared the menu said, “The wild thing was that my sambar was spicy and my paneer was not (I went with Indian light). So torn about what to do next time!
The wild cheeses were my sambar dinner was spicy and my paneer was not (I went with Indian mild). So torn about what to do next time! — Aditi Shekhar (@aditishekar) April 9, 2023
“Thai restaurants do it, 5 Thais are spicy,” read one comment.
Thai restaurants do it, including 5 Thai Spicy — Akshob Giridhardas (@akshob) April 9, 2023
“I am an American medium I think is an Indian gentle,” said another person.
I am an American medium I think is an Indian gentle.- Katerina Dimitratos (@KDimitratos) April 9, 2023
So, are you American mild or Indian spicy?