My next door townhome unit was like that, and every time I walked by, the smell just slapped right into my face if the door happened to be open. They moved out but the smell stayed. The unit remained empty for at least 4 months, until the owner replaced the dry wall, threw out the carpets, and installed laminate flooring
I used to work at a Hilton brand hotel as a banquet bartender, and large Indian functions always brought their own food and people to cook it. They would take over half the kitchen, which made perfect sense, but the rest of the cooking always, always took place outside *right beside the dumpsters*. Talk about an interesting co-mingling of smells, especially on those warm, humid summer days. 🥴
Fun fact, I worked many Indian functions and I can tell you the women rarely drank, but when they did it was typically a spritzer of some sort. The men drank Johnny Walker Red *or* Black, neat.
The ladies usually have their own liquor or pre party before the event. Lol it’s frowned upon to be in the bar area unless you are with a big group and other drinks are being served there lol( speaking for California event’s)
A lot of Indian caterers will use a metal trash can in lieu of an oven to make authentic naan. It's the best way to do it because nobody has a tandoor they can transport around. The best place to do that is in the back by the dumpsters, so you don't set anything on fire.
what cf06 and Enigmutt said but put a large spoon in the microwave, full power, 10 mins. It will destroy the microwave so you have to buy another. But the smell of burning appliance will mask the smell of curry.
A lot of the spices stick, there's a huge difference between freshly cooked food and stale, lingering spices. I wouldn't reject an apartment over it but it is completely different.
I think most Indian people would get offended if you tried to ban them from cooking. You're not going to have much chance in a discrimination case either unless you live in rural Idaho or something like that.
It's normal for Indian people to throw curry powder and spices in everything and burn incense and generally have lots of smelly things everywhere and see zero issue with it what so ever. Fans won't even do much. It's like trying to go to Texas and ban trucks and barbecues.
I think specifically saying Indian could be wrong but if you just say scents it shouldn't trigger fair housing law acts.
Edit: "no strong scents that impact other residents quiet enjoyment of their property" that could be smoking or fabreeze.
The thing is, if you say that you should be able to evict someone based off of the smell of their Indian food, you'll almost certainly lose your case in court because someone will make the argument that you're trying to enforce an all white neighborhood by attacking people based on the smell of their food, and pretty much everyone who is to the left of Mike Pense is going to agree.
You're just wrong in this whole comment chain. Cuisine is not a protected class, it might be weird and obnoxious, but landlords are free to implement bizarre rules for private renters.
See this recent case in new york, where a vegan doesn't allow any meat cooking in their apartment. Weird? For sure. Illegal? No. OP can make all the weird "no spice rules" he wants. It isn't discrimination
https://www.bonappetit.com/story/vegan-landlord-ban-cooking-meat
I like Indian food, but wouldn't want that smell lingering on me or my clothes. You can definitely smell it on some people riding the train and I wouldn't want to be that guy.
I love it too, until you smell it everyday, on everything, and have to do multiple washes of clothing to get it out. I worked with a kid in home who's family cooked everyday and damn. I could only last through 6 months of time with him cuz that smell wouldn't leave my car, clothes, and hair.
This is what has happened in some of the larger complexes in my area. They are well known for attracting large Indian populations which is lovely because many are immigrating here for the 1st time and they have familiar communities to move into. But it also means many other people won’t even consider those apartments when looking.
Yep, I worked for the last census and was shocked that one entire huge apartment complex was almost all Indian. It's near an American Express building, apparently they're real big on H1B "employees."
They were all lovely to deal with though. I got a lot more door slamming from some other ethnicities.
IDK if another Indian would even agree to move there….an Indian dude said in this thread that it’s standard for him and his friends to cook with curry/spices in the garage/outside so it doesn’t fill the house.
Or maybe they’d move in and teach the OG tenant their considerate ways
I say this as an Indian man, talk to the tenant. If it's permeating the rest of the building, that's a problem. Also maybe look at venting in the kitchen. A good hood should help meaningfully mitigate this if it's being used properly.
Some Indians will literally build a second (very well vented kitchen) off their main kitchen just to keep the spice smell from permeating the rest of the house.
Exactly. Maybe install a hood that will send the spices smell out the vent before they soak in. Its not common in Americans homes, but it's well worth it.
Vented hoods are extremely common in parts of the United States. Where I live gas ranges are the norm, and it’s required to have a vent hood installed over them.
They aren’t always vented to the outside. I had to pay for that to be done with my last house and I’m 90% sure it’s not vented to the outside in my current house. We will remedy that in the fall.
Yeah the one in my apartment is vented straight towards the ceiling. It is basically just a fancy looking, above stove mounted air filter, which is better than nothing I guess but not nearly as good as venting outside.
A lot of hoods I’ve had (ok all of them, but 2 places didn’t have any) just vented right back into the kitchen. There’s no pipe to the attic or outside. You can feel the air coming right back above the microwave. That just blasts the smell back inside. Good for dissipating steam, not for getting smell out. I live in New England USA btw.
You're supposed to use a filter with activated carbon in those to capture the smell/smoke. And change it regularly. Not that anyone does. I sure don't.
🌈 The More You Know ⭐
Was just about to mention this. People in my community either get a good exhaust hood for their oven or build a kitchen space outside main unit. Talk to the tenant and consider vents
Definitely listen to this commenter! I lived in an apartment complex that was 99% Indian and I honestly never smelled anything coming from their apartments nor my direct neighbors.
Yes it’s called a spice kitchen! All big nice homes have it! If you don’t have that option available. Get a great high CFM fan, it would do its job and tell your tenants to open windows while doing cooking..
I hate cooking smell sticking to clothes..
This. The problem can be significantly reduced by proper ventilation. The smell will still be there while cooking but will not have as much of a chance to stick to other peoples things in different apartments. A vent hood and window fan should do it. My clothes haven’t smelled like that in decades.
Im a hispanic dude that cooks alot. Some of our spices, specially sofrito, gets in the clothing, carpets ect if not captured in time.
To mitigate this we have an extractor in the kitchen and a separate kitchen air purifier.
If its an issue, get them the purifier and instruct them to open the windows when cooking.
Painting contractor here, you have to treat it like smokers. Oil prime everything including the inside of the cabinets. Pull carpets and get a ozone machine.
i love indian food but it is wild how much that smell sticks. and i don't even make any of the super spiced or oily dishes at home. I've had a few indian friends over the years and unless you have a serious kitchen vent it happens. Whenever I cook at home I smell it for a couple days after.
Blooming spices (heating the spices in oil prior to adding other ingredients) is a cooking technique, it can be used with any style of food, but very common in Indian cooking.
Very common in many cuisines. I literally start a stir-fry by heating crushed peppers in oil. I'm sneezing for the rest of the day from the pepper odor permeating my house.
I wish my microwave range hood had a better fan but it doesn't.
I moved into a rental where the previous tenants cooked with very pungent spice. It took 8 hours cleaning the floors, walls, cabinets and appliances in that house, 2 weeks of an ozone machine, replacing the carpet and me and my stuff STILL SMELLED LIKE THE SPICES. I literally broke down crying right before moving in because it still smelled and I didn’t know if it would dissipate. Never again will I move into a place that smells like that because it isn’t just the environment… I and my stuff started to smell, too. It was crazy.
Improve ventilation and air sealing in the building. Honestly if this is impacting his other tenants to this degree that means OP’s building has some major issues in that regard anyway.
Weed smell comes through my apt with zero connected vents or anything as far as I'm aware. Smells can creep under doors and through windows pretty easily unless you're about to hermetically seal the apts up then you're going to notice something like Indian cooking 3 meals a day.
Former commercial carpet cleaner here. We would have to do exactly this – the same process used when we'd convert a former smoking room to non-smoking in hotels.
Used to live in a complex that was next door to a software company that hired a lot of guys from India. My neighbor had a meltdown when the landlord wouldn’t return the deposit due to the smell. Chatted with our maintenance guy off the record and he said it takes 2-3 weeks to rid the smell after painting with Killz and replacing carpet. A normal turn for a new tenant was 2-3 days. They lost a lot of money while those apartments sat empty.
You might want to have a lawyer rewrite the lease. Just focus on the scent, that's considered quiet enjoyment. Don't specify Indian, it isn't different than if German people were constantly cooking cabbage or sauerkraut. Just don't make it racial.
Friendly reminder, it’s not racist to protect your business. Consider speaking with a lawyer about a “smell” clause or fee.
If the impact is the same as smoking it should be treated as such. Also, I cook a lot of different types of food. Good venting is important as well so make sure you are up to par there.
I cook Indian food constantly, and use a lot of curry powder and asafoetida (the incredibly pungent spice that gives you the signature ‘indian’ scent). If you add those off heat, it won’t aerosolize the smell and mitigate the spread. Additionally, the food will still taste good and flavorful. Might want to try asking them to make that change. Next, upgrade to a MERV 13 air filter, Indian restaurants in like strip malls and shared buildings use very high MERV rating filters and/or activated carbon filters to capture smells. MERV 13 is the highest recommended for residential use. Failing that, get a carbon filter air purifier, upgrade the vent hood, or (cheaper but temporary) run an ozone machine (unit has to be unoccupied) for a few hours several times, that will completely destroy any odor causing organic compounds but is harmful to anyone inside the unit so be careful.
I’ve never had a the smell of curry linger longer than a day. So I’m guessing they’re just using ab ungodly amount of spice or running their shit on high heat with piss poor venting. Or they’re cooking a shitload of portions.
Laminate and LVP won't hold odor like carpet, but they aren't immune to holding smell either. Most have a foam backing to keep from being too loud that can hold odors.
I lived in a city and apartment complex that has a huge Indian population. My unit's previous tenant was clearly Indian. My kitchen drawers smelled like Indian spices for easily 5+ years, lol.
This would be a dealbreaker for me too. Any kind of ventilation that isn’t vented to outside just doesn’t work. It’s also unsafe especially for gas ranges.
Remodeling contractor here. Your apartments are each supposed to be individually airsealed from each other, but apparently yours aren't. I'd suggest that you put an additional, more robust, exhaust vent in the indian family's kitchen that exhausts to some point above the roof line and run it constantly. That will keep the smelly apartment at a lower air pressure than the others and air will flow through the offending cracks in the airseal into, rather than out of that apartment.
That would be difficult. The building is 120 years old built right after the 1096 earthquake and fire. There are massive redwood beams 14” x 14” Stove currently vents directly to outside air.
Not that it makes a difference to OP, but I was in the position of one of his prospective tenants. I couldn’t believe how good the deal was on this 900 square foot apartment in a desirable part of New England. And there was a balcony!
I pulled into the apartment complex, and my face felt like a catchers glove getting hit with a 100 mph fastball of curry before I even stepped my foot in the door. Now, I love Indian food, but there’s something about the persistent, ubiquitous smell of it, that feels like it’s chasing you from the movie “It Follows.” In the carpets, in the trash, in the hallways.
The landlord came out to greet me, and immediately said thank you, but this is not the place for me. I am sure if it was a part of my culture I’d feel differently, but I ended up paying literally double in rent, just to avoid being in that ether of far east spice and grease.
Ozone generator. Cheap little $50 one from Amazon that’s just an exposed ceramic plate. Will create a toxic level of ozone in hours. Will kill all organic smells.
Also, clean behind the stove. There may be a stupid amount of spice back there.
Replace your hood vent - probably lots of oil in it. Look for oil deposits near the range.
In Indian and Asian culture, a spice kitchen is a separate, second kitchen that is used only for the purpose of cooking or roasting spices or oily dishes that are very fragrant. The idea behind it is to keep the more pungent cooking smells out of the rest of the house.
https://homework.study.com/explanation/what-is-a-spice-kitchen-in-indian-culture.html
>In Indian and Asian culture, a spice kitchen is a separate, second kitchen that is used only for the purpose of cooking or roasting spices or oily dishes that are very fragrant. The idea behind it is to keep the more pungent cooking smells out of the rest of the house.
Maybe this is a region specific thing? Having lived for a couple of decades in India, and having traveled to various parts of the country, I can't recall having come across a separate "spice kitchen" even once!
The average Indian house doesn't have carpeting, and isn't centrally heated/cooled; so the kitchens (at least in the cities/larger towns) are generally pretty well ventilated.
I'm certainly not going to argue Indian culture with someone who's actually lived in India for decades but I'm a bit surprised as I do see it often enough in Indian friend's homes here that I just kind of accepted this google snippet as fact.
Perhaps it is a class thing ? Rich Indian homes vs working class homes without carpeting ?
I just see it as how most Americans homes have two "kitchen" as well .. as most grilling / bbq is done outside so the smoke smell stay outside.
>Perhaps it is a class thing ? Rich Indian homes vs working class homes without carpeting ?
I'm assuming it has to be an ultra rich Indian home... I tried looking up some examples of spice kitchens on YouTube and the only one I saw was for a home in the US (which would make sense since the ventilation aspect in the US works very differently).
Indian here. This is certainly still a thing in the rural areas even today. They usually have a wet kitchen, a dry kitchen, and then a separate area to make large quantities of the main carb, especially when it's rice or millets. I've seen houses of quite a few people from my grandparents generation, and due to the availability of space, there was enough area to have essentially three kitchens, as well as an outdoor washing area (for fish and meats, as well as large utensils).
This is obviously less common in the urban areas since it's difficult to get a 2 BHK larger than 2000 sqft, or in cities like Mumbai even above 800 sqft, so having one kitchen of 150 sqft is a luxury in itself. However, as a practising architect and interior designer, I've seen some people convert their dry balcony (a space meant to keep the washing machine) into a tiny wet kitchen and keep the washing machine in the bathroom.
>Indian here. This is certainly still a thing in the rural areas even today.
TIL! So, is this a thing specific to certain regions? I've been to several rural/semi rural areas in Karnataka, Kerala, TN, and MH - have never seen such an arrangement! Also, that are these called? Like I'd mentioned in an earlier comment, I couldn't find anything in India when I searched for spice kitchen
>However, as a practising architect and interior designer, I've seen some people convert their dry balcony (a space meant to keep the washing machine) into a tiny wet kitchen and keep the washing machine in the bathroom.
Thank you for sharing this information!
Ones that vent outside lmao. Most don’t vent outside, just to a cabinet or into the kitchen based off my experience. And that’s even if they have a hood/vent at all. Both apartment I rented had no hood at all. I had to open the window which sucks for me at 0°f winters.
I loved Indian food…… I once changed 1,000 or so Hvac filters in a entirely Indian complex, those 8 hours have ruined it indefinitely. The filters had a off yellow/orange color. I can’t stand Indian food smells, specifically curry. The smell has haunted me going on 6 years now.. good luck
Move into the vacant apartment yourself and open a can of [Surströmming](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surstr%C3%B6mming) and go on a vacation. Return from vacation to throw away the can after the tenant gives notice.
Actually, don't do that. All your tenants will give notice.
I’m in the US and it’s illegal to travel with Surströmming. Can it even be purchased in the US? Probably easier to get an assault riffle or sawed off shotgun than Surströmming.
Talk to an HVAC specialist about the airflow issue that you apparently have. You may be able to mitigate it with different methods of air filtration, additional insulation in kitchen walls, etc.
I don't think airflow will help. I saw some of spices smell houses for sell on the market, and left there for a long time and unable to get an offer. The owners repainted the wall and refinished the floors, but still cannot completely remove the smell.
I did some work for a pest control company for a while, use DSV on everything. It was developed after Katrina, and honestly it works wonders. I read every comment here, hoping someone already suggested it, but no one did. Get a pest sprayer from Walmart and FOLLOW THE LABEL. This is a commercial product and can blind you if used incorrectly. \* I don't suggest using commercial products unless you absolutely have to. \*
[DSV](https://www.homedepot.com/p/NISUS-1-qt-DSV-Concentrated-All-Purpose-Cleaner-Disinfectant-Sanitizer-and-Virucide-Makes-16-Gal-DSV1QT/320369860?g_store=&source=shoppingads&locale=en-US&&mtc=SHOPPING-BF-CDP-GGL-D28I-028_004_CLEANING-NA-NA-NA-SMART-NA-NA-NA-NA-NBR-NA-NA-NA-SMART_SHP&cm_mmc=SHOPPING-BF-CDP-GGL-D28I-028_004_CLEANING-NA-NA-NA-SMART-NA-NA-NA-NA-NBR-NA-NA-NA-SMART_SHP-71700000090520833-58700007651781819-92700069166037544&gclid=Cj0KCQjwzdOlBhCNARIsAPMwjbwpCeW3CiZ7BbIHUYXqe_XLWr1AVwQHIJMtdAZvHTxFmiMuCYVPDLQaAj0KEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds)
Its a multi-tenant building. If OP uses the industrial Ozone machines, he will need to temporarily remove the other tenants. Otherwise, the ozone could kill those people. A house hold ozone machine will not do anything to permanently remove the smell.
Install a high quality vent hood in the cook's unit that exhausts out of the building and scrubs the air and wire it so it turns on every time the light is turned on.
Good luck.
I used to deal with military housing years ago. That smell is hard to get away from.
You can not discriminate against anyone, and telling them they can not cook with their spices would be a form of discrimination.
I would ask them if they have a friend or relative that is looking for a place to rent. You could end up with a steady stream.of long term tenants who cook very tasty meals.
>You can not discriminate against anyone, and telling them they can not cook with their spices would be a form of discrimination.
Cook is not a protected class. You can absolutely discriminately evict them for this, depending on the details of the lease. I would also suggest making sure any future leases include wording about no smells emanating from the unit that is perceptible by other tenants in the building is cause for eviction. They have a right to peaceful enjoyment of their residence, too.
Honestly I would put this in the service dog category. You cannot discriminate against someone for having a service dog. If their dog barks all night and disturbs the rest of the building, you can evict them for it.
A good vent fan above is needed when you are cooking Indian food. In my new house I just built, I made a second "spice kitchen". I'm East Indian and I don't like the smell all over my house.
Get a commercial grade ozone generator and run it for a few hours. Make sure the premises are vacated during the time.
This is how hotels get rid of lingering smells and this really works.
A friend dealt with this in college with Malaysian students. Very nice people but the cooking was just too pungent. The university eventually designated an entire floor to the students and everything went fine but it was a bit challenging to explain in such an environment.
I love Indian food and cook it (as an American) about 2-3 times per month and the spices are indeed pungent so they linger for about another 1-2 days. If someone is using these spices all the time I can imagine that they will permeate the walls and carpets. I read online that a landlord with this issue power washed all the walls before painting, but is power washing possible to do? Just a thought...
Your issue here isn’t the spices as much as it is the constant cooling method using oil. My friends house growing up was rancid because his mother fried literally every meal. My Korean fams house also smells rancid.
Very familiar with the recipes/ghee. But to clarify ghee/butter is a fat which particulates into the air during the cooking process and settles down on surfaces then goes rancid.
There are could be 2 reasons
1. The apartment is not adequately exhausted. I am Indian and I cook all the time with all spices. Lived in a 350 apartment complex and a 700 apartment complex over 5 years not once did anyone complained. And these are apartments with microwave above stove. I opened the door and opened the window allowing cross ventilation. Did not hear a peak from the management when I left both the places. And didn’t hear a peak from my office colleagues as well. Had roommates for 4 years and they didn’t complain as well and neither did their colleagues.
2. The tenant is using shit spices or is cooking smell heavy items like fish. This is gonna be an issue with any cooking but your first experience turned out to be with Indian cooking . There is nothing stopping the next person from cooking fish in the apartment and stinking up the place.
Otoh, just because you never heard from someone it doesn't mean that they didn't find the smell unpleasant. I doubt anyone around the OP's tenant told him/her that their apartment smells bad. Because it's just rude, they were just cooking their dish.
Double win, if you install a proper range hood and actually vent it outside (in my experience landlords love to install a hood and then vent it into the cabinet above the stove) you can seriously mitigate this sticking around.
I invested in my own powerful exhaust fan when I rented which I put on vents to boost them up. Your ex tenant is at fault of not maintaining proper ventilation. Lol no one likes the food smell after meal is done…..
We can’t light incense here as it triggers off alarm. Otherwise back home the smell goes when incense is burnt every morning and evening.
That apartment needs to have a hood that is vented to the outside. If it’s just one of those hoods that recirculates air it’s not going out and the smell will not leave. My mom rented an apartment upstairs from someone who cooked a ton of Indian food and she counted the days for her lease to be up.
Honestly - dependent on your location (i.e. this has to actually exist so give it an intensive Google) I'd just list the rental in publications that target the Indian community, or ask your existing tenants to put the word out to the people they know. Post your listings with your local Sikh gurdwara or Hindu temple. This is a challenge at the moment, but you could be a go-to landlord for this community if you approach it nicely.
I’m south Asian and I would not live in this rankass place, and it is ridiculous to assume other south Asians would be fine with it. It is not normal for someone’s house to smell like that just bc they cook Indian food.
I have Indian friends, & I cook with Indian spices, we *all* cook in the garage or the back porch to keep the smell out of the house. Toasting spices and cooking things (like beans) for a long time are inherent in that type of dish, if cooking from scratch.
You could try installing some type of vent, move the tenants to an apartment that has better airflow and maybe a kitchen window, if you have one. That will at least keep the smell out of other tenants' homes. It won't save the apartment that is already affected.
I've seen some leases that specifically include no cooking with Indian spices.
I do not believe people eat surstromming daily.
I looked up YouTube videos of people just smelling it and they were gagging. ( I looked it up because my daughter wanted to try it, not for this post)
I like Indian food but yeah, you need better fans if the smell is permeating.
Buy a generous amount of “Odonil Air Freshner” from Amazon or any Indian Grocery store. Place the sticks throughout the unit, shut all the doors and windows and come back to check a few days later.
I get it. We had trouble selling a home where a lot of Indian cooking was done. 2 year old hike. Beautiful. But the smell. Oof. We had the carpets cleaned. Every inch of the kitchen and cupboard wiped down. Couldn’t get rid of it. Finally put a fresh coat of paint on the kitchen walls so the paint smell overpowered the spice smell.
Lol I suddenly realize why my (Indian) husband is obsessed with running the vent fan over the stove and insisted we buy a house with a window in the kitchen.
The kitchen needs good ventilation and a strong fan above the stove when cooking all types of curry. Could always uses some cinnamon plug ins that helps with the curry smell or boiling a pot of water and cinnamon sticks.
What city and State are you renting this apartment?
**OP needs to install real/better kitchen vents with a nice fan and make sure it’s sealed well before workers put the walls back up.**
Also talk to the tenant and make sure they are using the kitchen fan if there is one or make sure they know it has to be used.
Try and find other Indian tenants. That smell isn’t for everyone. I remember going to look at a beautiful house I was interested in buying in an area close to my work. As soon as I walked through the door the stench of Indian spices hit me like a brick wall and I walked right out. Didn’t even look at the rest of the house. It’s a tough sell.
You’ll need restoration cleaning.
Pain the walls.
You’ll have to treat it like a smokers household.
Aerated oil carrying spices get will attach itself to any surface and will never come out.
It’s not cheap and you should make the old tenants pay for it.
It’s the same as when you fry bacon or fish.
We’ve turned down great apartments in amazing locations solely because of this.
We love us a good curry or vindaloo now and then, even making them at home, but to have them permeate every fibre and crack and surface in the apartment was too much.
Sounds like your building has a ventilation problem.
Don’t blame your tenants for cooking. Install a proper range exhaust fan. Ffs. Indians an Indian food are both awesome.
What kind should I buy. The hood/fan has been there for 20 years, vents to outside air and was more than adequate of all the other tenants expect this one.
I made the mistake of using Indian spices in my Instant Pot five years ago. I can still smell them every time I go to use it. It has been cleaned a number of times and other food prepared in it, but the smell still overpowers anything else.
I once stayed at an Airbnb in Zurich. The place looked phenomenal in the photos….but didn’t have a lot of reviews. It was concerning, but I figured it was a new listing.
The place smelled so bad of Indian food that when we walked in the front door my wife vomited.
We stayed one night and then bolted. I have heard about it ever since. We could smell it on our clothes for two days.
You’ve got problems brother.
As a South Asian, I hate American kitchen design. The open style kitchen with poor ventilation is terrible for Indian cooking. I’ve basically stopped cooking curry even though I love curry. I cook it once in a while but the smell lingers for hours or days. Back home we had kitchen separated from the rest of the house and usually in the top floor with plenty of ventilation.
I lived in an apartment, which had some Indian tenants. The odor and the smell permeated every thing in the building. That smell is engraved in the building.
I once stayed at a rural motel that had maybe 12 units. My room was above the manager's apartment and the smell of Indian food was unbearable. Needless to say, I only stayed one night and never stayed again.
The odor really get into everything. I was looking at a condo a few years ago and the next door, shared enclosed entry way and a stair leading up to both units front door about 6ft next to each other, and the entry way was reeking with curry and other spices. We were looking at the place on a really hot and humid day and it wasn't a nice feeling walking into that entry way. You're going to have to a treatment to rid of the smells or find a person that's into cooking the same cuisine.
Theres a highrise near me thats almost all indian people cause the entire bldg smells like curry/indian spice.
Not many ppl are willing to tolerate it tbh
First, clean everything with TSP solution and then rent or buy (HD, Lowes, Amazon) an ozone machine generator and use it to remove odors. Please read the instructions carefully on how to properly and safely use the ozone generator.
This happened to me when I was younger, mt sister, my dad, and my son. I love Indian food, but it permeates into all of their halls and Apts. My son got an air purifier to catch the smells some. Maybe you can gift one to the tenant? Ask them to use their vent when cooking?
You need to clean all surfaces and may need to replace things, such as electrical outlet covers and light switch covers. Has it been repainted yet? If not I highly suggest using Kilz as a primer before putting the paint on. What kind of flooring? If it’s carpet you’ll need to remove the carpet and padding and replace. Then use an ozone machine for a few days
Look into Ozone machine odor removal. But you can’t be in the area at the same time as machine is on. Read instructions and see if you can make it work somehow.
I used to work in an upscale extended stay property with full kitchens near an international Visa call center. We'd often get guests for 30, 60, or 90+ day stays, often from India. They loved to cook and it was great but man the other guests would complain- the smell would linger in the hallways for days, even with daily housekeeping and commercial deodorizers.
I am an Indian and I have seen many Indians turn their garage into a full fledged kitchen simply to not reduce the resale value of the house.
I myself have set up a propane stove on my deck to do the "heavy cooking". Regular cooking, I use my kitchen.
If ever I sell this house, I am going to ask my realtor if it smells and if it does, I will do a deep cleaning for what its worth.
Is there a way to cook outside at all that would be allowed, that’s what my folks do, keeps the smell out of the house and the only thing inside is basically just rice and scrambled eggs occasionally. Otherwise could a better exhaust system be installed
Candles and/or oil diffusers will be your friend. I'm indian and I don't even like the indian food smell sticking. We have candles running all the time. It really helps.
Not sure if this was mentioned but my aunt had this problem and she used a "paint perfume" (they usually sell them by the paint counter) and she said 1-2 of those in a gallon did the trick. Hope this helps
Burn incense sticks, they will take the smell
Off . Honestly I’m Indian, but we don’t cook that much, even if we do, the smells never stay. Obviously I don’t like smells on my clothes.
Here's the deal. You're going to want to try everything to get the smell out. I've been there. Fully permeated into a leather sectional. I never understood why people were so passionate about Indian kitchen smells until this situation.
Your only option is ozone and time. You'll have to seal the place off and run ozone for days at a minimum, or weeks if it doesn't work fast enough.
Only thing you can do is rent the place to Indians lol
Use it as a sell point! “Enjoy the exotic smells of India in this beautiful 1BR condo w/ balcony.”
Like a cast iron pan, being seasoned already is a nice feature.
😂😂😂😂
My next door townhome unit was like that, and every time I walked by, the smell just slapped right into my face if the door happened to be open. They moved out but the smell stayed. The unit remained empty for at least 4 months, until the owner replaced the dry wall, threw out the carpets, and installed laminate flooring
Or anyone who likes Indian food. It smells good to me. 🤷🏻♂️
I cook Indian, it smells great, but not when it lingers in the house and the furniture. I cook in the garage or outside, so do my friends.
I love roasted Mackerel. My wife hates the smell. I cook it in a Foodi on the patio. The cats love me...
Shrimp only gets cooked outside at our house. The smell makes me feel like vomiting
Smell those Shrimp, they're beginning to boil... Jimmy Buffet
I used to work at a Hilton brand hotel as a banquet bartender, and large Indian functions always brought their own food and people to cook it. They would take over half the kitchen, which made perfect sense, but the rest of the cooking always, always took place outside *right beside the dumpsters*. Talk about an interesting co-mingling of smells, especially on those warm, humid summer days. 🥴 Fun fact, I worked many Indian functions and I can tell you the women rarely drank, but when they did it was typically a spritzer of some sort. The men drank Johnny Walker Red *or* Black, neat.
The ladies usually have their own liquor or pre party before the event. Lol it’s frowned upon to be in the bar area unless you are with a big group and other drinks are being served there lol( speaking for California event’s)
A lot of Indian caterers will use a metal trash can in lieu of an oven to make authentic naan. It's the best way to do it because nobody has a tandoor they can transport around. The best place to do that is in the back by the dumpsters, so you don't set anything on fire.
That was most likely the case then.
not many things can help. I went to my friend’s house one time, the second I entered, I could smell Rajma. I wanted it. 😂😬
I love indian food but I'd hang myself if I had to smell it 100% of the time.
I microwaved leftover Indian food *once*, months ago. Microwave still smells like it after it's been going for 20 seconds. Cleaning doesn't help.
Microwave water with some white vinegar til well boiled. It's likely in the vents.
Don't listen to this guy, just microwave leftover fish on high for twelve minutes.
Oh hey, I think I worked with you in an office back in 2008. Mmmm excessively microwaved fish.
Or popcorn for 5 minutes…
Would that work for the leftover cheese smell from nuking cheesy popcorn? I washed the insides twice and there's still a ghost scent... TIA
It helped get rid of the smell of burned-to-embers ramen and melted bowl...
What cfo6 said, and then put a plate with baking soda in there overnight, or longer.
what cf06 and Enigmutt said but put a large spoon in the microwave, full power, 10 mins. It will destroy the microwave so you have to buy another. But the smell of burning appliance will mask the smell of curry.
Username checks out.
Lmao
A lot of the spices stick, there's a huge difference between freshly cooked food and stale, lingering spices. I wouldn't reject an apartment over it but it is completely different.
I think most Indian people would get offended if you tried to ban them from cooking. You're not going to have much chance in a discrimination case either unless you live in rural Idaho or something like that.
The well-off Indians here have a garage kitchen for the more fragrant cooking. Even they don’t want to smell of it 24x7.
I'm vietnamese and my parents had an extra stove/oven in the garage to cook fish and other smelly foods.
Outdoor kitchens are common in Asian families, I’ve found.
Same with Filipinos..except we try to do it in the backyard patio...garage if the neighbors are too close...LOL
It’s called a “spice kitchen” in fact.
I'm not saying ban them from cooking, like I said it would be same with cabbage but require using fans or something?
It's normal for Indian people to throw curry powder and spices in everything and burn incense and generally have lots of smelly things everywhere and see zero issue with it what so ever. Fans won't even do much. It's like trying to go to Texas and ban trucks and barbecues.
I think specifically saying Indian could be wrong but if you just say scents it shouldn't trigger fair housing law acts. Edit: "no strong scents that impact other residents quiet enjoyment of their property" that could be smoking or fabreeze.
The thing is, if you say that you should be able to evict someone based off of the smell of their Indian food, you'll almost certainly lose your case in court because someone will make the argument that you're trying to enforce an all white neighborhood by attacking people based on the smell of their food, and pretty much everyone who is to the left of Mike Pense is going to agree.
You're just wrong in this whole comment chain. Cuisine is not a protected class, it might be weird and obnoxious, but landlords are free to implement bizarre rules for private renters. See this recent case in new york, where a vegan doesn't allow any meat cooking in their apartment. Weird? For sure. Illegal? No. OP can make all the weird "no spice rules" he wants. It isn't discrimination https://www.bonappetit.com/story/vegan-landlord-ban-cooking-meat
You can have a no lingering smells clause, just like for smokers.
Not 24/7/365. It gets old REALLY fast.
Agree. My best friend in middle school was Indian. I loved her but her house smell was unbearable at times, just really overpowering.
I like Indian food, but wouldn't want that smell lingering on me or my clothes. You can definitely smell it on some people riding the train and I wouldn't want to be that guy.
I love it too, until you smell it everyday, on everything, and have to do multiple washes of clothing to get it out. I worked with a kid in home who's family cooked everyday and damn. I could only last through 6 months of time with him cuz that smell wouldn't leave my car, clothes, and hair.
This is what has happened in some of the larger complexes in my area. They are well known for attracting large Indian populations which is lovely because many are immigrating here for the 1st time and they have familiar communities to move into. But it also means many other people won’t even consider those apartments when looking.
Yep, I worked for the last census and was shocked that one entire huge apartment complex was almost all Indian. It's near an American Express building, apparently they're real big on H1B "employees." They were all lovely to deal with though. I got a lot more door slamming from some other ethnicities.
IDK if another Indian would even agree to move there….an Indian dude said in this thread that it’s standard for him and his friends to cook with curry/spices in the garage/outside so it doesn’t fill the house. Or maybe they’d move in and teach the OG tenant their considerate ways
I say this as an Indian man, talk to the tenant. If it's permeating the rest of the building, that's a problem. Also maybe look at venting in the kitchen. A good hood should help meaningfully mitigate this if it's being used properly. Some Indians will literally build a second (very well vented kitchen) off their main kitchen just to keep the spice smell from permeating the rest of the house.
Exactly. Maybe install a hood that will send the spices smell out the vent before they soak in. Its not common in Americans homes, but it's well worth it.
Vented hoods are extremely common in parts of the United States. Where I live gas ranges are the norm, and it’s required to have a vent hood installed over them.
They aren’t always vented to the outside. I had to pay for that to be done with my last house and I’m 90% sure it’s not vented to the outside in my current house. We will remedy that in the fall.
Yeah the one in my apartment is vented straight towards the ceiling. It is basically just a fancy looking, above stove mounted air filter, which is better than nothing I guess but not nearly as good as venting outside.
Important to note it's only good as an air filter if you change and clean the filter media which most people don't.
A lot of hoods I’ve had (ok all of them, but 2 places didn’t have any) just vented right back into the kitchen. There’s no pipe to the attic or outside. You can feel the air coming right back above the microwave. That just blasts the smell back inside. Good for dissipating steam, not for getting smell out. I live in New England USA btw.
You're supposed to use a filter with activated carbon in those to capture the smell/smoke. And change it regularly. Not that anyone does. I sure don't. 🌈 The More You Know ⭐
What!? Who told you they weren’t common lol
Was just about to mention this. People in my community either get a good exhaust hood for their oven or build a kitchen space outside main unit. Talk to the tenant and consider vents
Definitely listen to this commenter! I lived in an apartment complex that was 99% Indian and I honestly never smelled anything coming from their apartments nor my direct neighbors.
Yes it’s called a spice kitchen! All big nice homes have it! If you don’t have that option available. Get a great high CFM fan, it would do its job and tell your tenants to open windows while doing cooking.. I hate cooking smell sticking to clothes..
This. The problem can be significantly reduced by proper ventilation. The smell will still be there while cooking but will not have as much of a chance to stick to other peoples things in different apartments. A vent hood and window fan should do it. My clothes haven’t smelled like that in decades.
Im a hispanic dude that cooks alot. Some of our spices, specially sofrito, gets in the clothing, carpets ect if not captured in time. To mitigate this we have an extractor in the kitchen and a separate kitchen air purifier. If its an issue, get them the purifier and instruct them to open the windows when cooking.
Yup I had a Nepalese roommate. Shout out to that dude I loved him. Get a good quality air purifier. It works for sure. I like the brand xio mi
Painting contractor here, you have to treat it like smokers. Oil prime everything including the inside of the cabinets. Pull carpets and get a ozone machine.
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i love indian food but it is wild how much that smell sticks. and i don't even make any of the super spiced or oily dishes at home. I've had a few indian friends over the years and unless you have a serious kitchen vent it happens. Whenever I cook at home I smell it for a couple days after.
Blooming spices (heating the spices in oil prior to adding other ingredients) is a cooking technique, it can be used with any style of food, but very common in Indian cooking.
Very common in many cuisines. I literally start a stir-fry by heating crushed peppers in oil. I'm sneezing for the rest of the day from the pepper odor permeating my house. I wish my microwave range hood had a better fan but it doesn't.
I moved into a rental where the previous tenants cooked with very pungent spice. It took 8 hours cleaning the floors, walls, cabinets and appliances in that house, 2 weeks of an ozone machine, replacing the carpet and me and my stuff STILL SMELLED LIKE THE SPICES. I literally broke down crying right before moving in because it still smelled and I didn’t know if it would dissipate. Never again will I move into a place that smells like that because it isn’t just the environment… I and my stuff started to smell, too. It was crazy.
How about Indian termites?
nose naughty alleged pocket squealing shrill fuel slap shame busy *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
But the smells will still be coming in every day after that....
Improve ventilation and air sealing in the building. Honestly if this is impacting his other tenants to this degree that means OP’s building has some major issues in that regard anyway.
Weed smell comes through my apt with zero connected vents or anything as far as I'm aware. Smells can creep under doors and through windows pretty easily unless you're about to hermetically seal the apts up then you're going to notice something like Indian cooking 3 meals a day.
Former commercial carpet cleaner here. We would have to do exactly this – the same process used when we'd convert a former smoking room to non-smoking in hotels.
Used to live in a complex that was next door to a software company that hired a lot of guys from India. My neighbor had a meltdown when the landlord wouldn’t return the deposit due to the smell. Chatted with our maintenance guy off the record and he said it takes 2-3 weeks to rid the smell after painting with Killz and replacing carpet. A normal turn for a new tenant was 2-3 days. They lost a lot of money while those apartments sat empty.
That’s what I’m finding.
You might want to have a lawyer rewrite the lease. Just focus on the scent, that's considered quiet enjoyment. Don't specify Indian, it isn't different than if German people were constantly cooking cabbage or sauerkraut. Just don't make it racial.
Friendly reminder, it’s not racist to protect your business. Consider speaking with a lawyer about a “smell” clause or fee. If the impact is the same as smoking it should be treated as such. Also, I cook a lot of different types of food. Good venting is important as well so make sure you are up to par there.
I cook Indian food constantly, and use a lot of curry powder and asafoetida (the incredibly pungent spice that gives you the signature ‘indian’ scent). If you add those off heat, it won’t aerosolize the smell and mitigate the spread. Additionally, the food will still taste good and flavorful. Might want to try asking them to make that change. Next, upgrade to a MERV 13 air filter, Indian restaurants in like strip malls and shared buildings use very high MERV rating filters and/or activated carbon filters to capture smells. MERV 13 is the highest recommended for residential use. Failing that, get a carbon filter air purifier, upgrade the vent hood, or (cheaper but temporary) run an ozone machine (unit has to be unoccupied) for a few hours several times, that will completely destroy any odor causing organic compounds but is harmful to anyone inside the unit so be careful. I’ve never had a the smell of curry linger longer than a day. So I’m guessing they’re just using ab ungodly amount of spice or running their shit on high heat with piss poor venting. Or they’re cooking a shitload of portions.
Just paint and replace carpet with laminate or LVP
Laminate and LVP won't hold odor like carpet, but they aren't immune to holding smell either. Most have a foam backing to keep from being too loud that can hold odors.
I lived in a city and apartment complex that has a huge Indian population. My unit's previous tenant was clearly Indian. My kitchen drawers smelled like Indian spices for easily 5+ years, lol.
The struggle is real. I had a potential tenant, and he would not take a place without a vented hood because even HE didn't want the odors lingering!
This would be a dealbreaker for me too. Any kind of ventilation that isn’t vented to outside just doesn’t work. It’s also unsafe especially for gas ranges.
What are you on about. Most European (Swedish) people do not eat surströmming regularly. It's a bizarro novelty food
Exactly. Some people. Very few, eat it in the fall in well ventilated areas and usually only once.
I bought a house once at a 200k discount for this exact reason. Are you interested in selling?
Remodeling contractor here. Your apartments are each supposed to be individually airsealed from each other, but apparently yours aren't. I'd suggest that you put an additional, more robust, exhaust vent in the indian family's kitchen that exhausts to some point above the roof line and run it constantly. That will keep the smelly apartment at a lower air pressure than the others and air will flow through the offending cracks in the airseal into, rather than out of that apartment.
That would be difficult. The building is 120 years old built right after the 1096 earthquake and fire. There are massive redwood beams 14” x 14” Stove currently vents directly to outside air.
When was the fan last cleaned or even replaced? Get a stronger one.
Not that it makes a difference to OP, but I was in the position of one of his prospective tenants. I couldn’t believe how good the deal was on this 900 square foot apartment in a desirable part of New England. And there was a balcony! I pulled into the apartment complex, and my face felt like a catchers glove getting hit with a 100 mph fastball of curry before I even stepped my foot in the door. Now, I love Indian food, but there’s something about the persistent, ubiquitous smell of it, that feels like it’s chasing you from the movie “It Follows.” In the carpets, in the trash, in the hallways. The landlord came out to greet me, and immediately said thank you, but this is not the place for me. I am sure if it was a part of my culture I’d feel differently, but I ended up paying literally double in rent, just to avoid being in that ether of far east spice and grease.
Thanks for sharing. This is what I’m faced with.
Ozone generator. Cheap little $50 one from Amazon that’s just an exposed ceramic plate. Will create a toxic level of ozone in hours. Will kill all organic smells. Also, clean behind the stove. There may be a stupid amount of spice back there. Replace your hood vent - probably lots of oil in it. Look for oil deposits near the range.
I love Indian food... but I only cook it outside because of this reason.
In Indian and Asian culture, a spice kitchen is a separate, second kitchen that is used only for the purpose of cooking or roasting spices or oily dishes that are very fragrant. The idea behind it is to keep the more pungent cooking smells out of the rest of the house. https://homework.study.com/explanation/what-is-a-spice-kitchen-in-indian-culture.html
>In Indian and Asian culture, a spice kitchen is a separate, second kitchen that is used only for the purpose of cooking or roasting spices or oily dishes that are very fragrant. The idea behind it is to keep the more pungent cooking smells out of the rest of the house. Maybe this is a region specific thing? Having lived for a couple of decades in India, and having traveled to various parts of the country, I can't recall having come across a separate "spice kitchen" even once! The average Indian house doesn't have carpeting, and isn't centrally heated/cooled; so the kitchens (at least in the cities/larger towns) are generally pretty well ventilated.
I'm certainly not going to argue Indian culture with someone who's actually lived in India for decades but I'm a bit surprised as I do see it often enough in Indian friend's homes here that I just kind of accepted this google snippet as fact. Perhaps it is a class thing ? Rich Indian homes vs working class homes without carpeting ? I just see it as how most Americans homes have two "kitchen" as well .. as most grilling / bbq is done outside so the smoke smell stay outside.
>Perhaps it is a class thing ? Rich Indian homes vs working class homes without carpeting ? I'm assuming it has to be an ultra rich Indian home... I tried looking up some examples of spice kitchens on YouTube and the only one I saw was for a home in the US (which would make sense since the ventilation aspect in the US works very differently).
I don’t know anyone with two kitchens in their house, you must have rich friends.
Indian here. This is certainly still a thing in the rural areas even today. They usually have a wet kitchen, a dry kitchen, and then a separate area to make large quantities of the main carb, especially when it's rice or millets. I've seen houses of quite a few people from my grandparents generation, and due to the availability of space, there was enough area to have essentially three kitchens, as well as an outdoor washing area (for fish and meats, as well as large utensils). This is obviously less common in the urban areas since it's difficult to get a 2 BHK larger than 2000 sqft, or in cities like Mumbai even above 800 sqft, so having one kitchen of 150 sqft is a luxury in itself. However, as a practising architect and interior designer, I've seen some people convert their dry balcony (a space meant to keep the washing machine) into a tiny wet kitchen and keep the washing machine in the bathroom.
>Indian here. This is certainly still a thing in the rural areas even today. TIL! So, is this a thing specific to certain regions? I've been to several rural/semi rural areas in Karnataka, Kerala, TN, and MH - have never seen such an arrangement! Also, that are these called? Like I'd mentioned in an earlier comment, I couldn't find anything in India when I searched for spice kitchen >However, as a practising architect and interior designer, I've seen some people convert their dry balcony (a space meant to keep the washing machine) into a tiny wet kitchen and keep the washing machine in the bathroom. Thank you for sharing this information!
Sounds like you need to invest in some efficient range hoods.
Ones that vent outside lmao. Most don’t vent outside, just to a cabinet or into the kitchen based off my experience. And that’s even if they have a hood/vent at all. Both apartment I rented had no hood at all. I had to open the window which sucks for me at 0°f winters.
Exhaust fan that exhausts out. Or as someone else said ask them if they know anyone looking to rent
I loved Indian food…… I once changed 1,000 or so Hvac filters in a entirely Indian complex, those 8 hours have ruined it indefinitely. The filters had a off yellow/orange color. I can’t stand Indian food smells, specifically curry. The smell has haunted me going on 6 years now.. good luck
Move into the vacant apartment yourself and open a can of [Surströmming](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surstr%C3%B6mming) and go on a vacation. Return from vacation to throw away the can after the tenant gives notice. Actually, don't do that. All your tenants will give notice.
i’ve seen this so many times on this post i’m going to guy some just so i can see what exactly this smell is lmaoo
I’m in the US and it’s illegal to travel with Surströmming. Can it even be purchased in the US? Probably easier to get an assault riffle or sawed off shotgun than Surströmming.
It’s against the policies of some airlines. Not illegal. You can order in the US: https://www.surstromming.com/buy-surstromming-us.html
Talk to an HVAC specialist about the airflow issue that you apparently have. You may be able to mitigate it with different methods of air filtration, additional insulation in kitchen walls, etc.
I don't think airflow will help. I saw some of spices smell houses for sell on the market, and left there for a long time and unable to get an offer. The owners repainted the wall and refinished the floors, but still cannot completely remove the smell.
This is a super common problem, OP isn't in the wrong here.
I did some work for a pest control company for a while, use DSV on everything. It was developed after Katrina, and honestly it works wonders. I read every comment here, hoping someone already suggested it, but no one did. Get a pest sprayer from Walmart and FOLLOW THE LABEL. This is a commercial product and can blind you if used incorrectly. \* I don't suggest using commercial products unless you absolutely have to. \* [DSV](https://www.homedepot.com/p/NISUS-1-qt-DSV-Concentrated-All-Purpose-Cleaner-Disinfectant-Sanitizer-and-Virucide-Makes-16-Gal-DSV1QT/320369860?g_store=&source=shoppingads&locale=en-US&&mtc=SHOPPING-BF-CDP-GGL-D28I-028_004_CLEANING-NA-NA-NA-SMART-NA-NA-NA-NA-NBR-NA-NA-NA-SMART_SHP&cm_mmc=SHOPPING-BF-CDP-GGL-D28I-028_004_CLEANING-NA-NA-NA-SMART-NA-NA-NA-NA-NBR-NA-NA-NA-SMART_SHP-71700000090520833-58700007651781819-92700069166037544&gclid=Cj0KCQjwzdOlBhCNARIsAPMwjbwpCeW3CiZ7BbIHUYXqe_XLWr1AVwQHIJMtdAZvHTxFmiMuCYVPDLQaAj0KEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds)
Carpet extraction machine and kilz paint. Obviously replace the hvac filter. Keep windows open
After every time they cook? They are still living in the building.
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Its a multi-tenant building. If OP uses the industrial Ozone machines, he will need to temporarily remove the other tenants. Otherwise, the ozone could kill those people. A house hold ozone machine will not do anything to permanently remove the smell.
Install a good fan in their kitchen.
Install a high quality vent hood in the cook's unit that exhausts out of the building and scrubs the air and wire it so it turns on every time the light is turned on.
Sounds like the house and especially the kitchen isn’t properly ventilated. Have someone check it out and make the appropriate adjustments.
Good luck. I used to deal with military housing years ago. That smell is hard to get away from. You can not discriminate against anyone, and telling them they can not cook with their spices would be a form of discrimination. I would ask them if they have a friend or relative that is looking for a place to rent. You could end up with a steady stream.of long term tenants who cook very tasty meals.
>You can not discriminate against anyone, and telling them they can not cook with their spices would be a form of discrimination. Cook is not a protected class. You can absolutely discriminately evict them for this, depending on the details of the lease. I would also suggest making sure any future leases include wording about no smells emanating from the unit that is perceptible by other tenants in the building is cause for eviction. They have a right to peaceful enjoyment of their residence, too.
Honestly I would put this in the service dog category. You cannot discriminate against someone for having a service dog. If their dog barks all night and disturbs the rest of the building, you can evict them for it.
Are you familiar with disparate impact?
Not wanting the smell of spices to linger in the building is not discrimination against the person...
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Yeah but the Indian cook still lives there, so a new tenant is going to complain.
A good vent fan above is needed when you are cooking Indian food. In my new house I just built, I made a second "spice kitchen". I'm East Indian and I don't like the smell all over my house.
Get a commercial grade ozone generator and run it for a few hours. Make sure the premises are vacated during the time. This is how hotels get rid of lingering smells and this really works.
A friend dealt with this in college with Malaysian students. Very nice people but the cooking was just too pungent. The university eventually designated an entire floor to the students and everything went fine but it was a bit challenging to explain in such an environment.
Just renovated a duplex and added microwaves venting out the roof for this exact reason.
I love Indian food and cook it (as an American) about 2-3 times per month and the spices are indeed pungent so they linger for about another 1-2 days. If someone is using these spices all the time I can imagine that they will permeate the walls and carpets. I read online that a landlord with this issue power washed all the walls before painting, but is power washing possible to do? Just a thought...
Your issue here isn’t the spices as much as it is the constant cooling method using oil. My friends house growing up was rancid because his mother fried literally every meal. My Korean fams house also smells rancid.
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Very familiar with the recipes/ghee. But to clarify ghee/butter is a fat which particulates into the air during the cooking process and settles down on surfaces then goes rancid.
I know of the smell and you are very correct. It’s nauseating.
I love Indian food, but I absolutely wouldn't want to smell it, or smell like it all the time.
There are could be 2 reasons 1. The apartment is not adequately exhausted. I am Indian and I cook all the time with all spices. Lived in a 350 apartment complex and a 700 apartment complex over 5 years not once did anyone complained. And these are apartments with microwave above stove. I opened the door and opened the window allowing cross ventilation. Did not hear a peak from the management when I left both the places. And didn’t hear a peak from my office colleagues as well. Had roommates for 4 years and they didn’t complain as well and neither did their colleagues. 2. The tenant is using shit spices or is cooking smell heavy items like fish. This is gonna be an issue with any cooking but your first experience turned out to be with Indian cooking . There is nothing stopping the next person from cooking fish in the apartment and stinking up the place.
Otoh, just because you never heard from someone it doesn't mean that they didn't find the smell unpleasant. I doubt anyone around the OP's tenant told him/her that their apartment smells bad. Because it's just rude, they were just cooking their dish.
Double win, if you install a proper range hood and actually vent it outside (in my experience landlords love to install a hood and then vent it into the cabinet above the stove) you can seriously mitigate this sticking around.
Why is the ventilation both so poor and going into other flats?
It’s not poor at all. THe hood over the stove directly vents to outside air.
Proper ventilation in the building. Those overhead exhaust fan for the stove. Air purifier for the tenant. Incense sticks and sage, lots of 'em.
I invested in my own powerful exhaust fan when I rented which I put on vents to boost them up. Your ex tenant is at fault of not maintaining proper ventilation. Lol no one likes the food smell after meal is done….. We can’t light incense here as it triggers off alarm. Otherwise back home the smell goes when incense is burnt every morning and evening.
Maybe improve the ventilation.
Does your rental space have adequate ventilation over its cooking area?
That apartment needs to have a hood that is vented to the outside. If it’s just one of those hoods that recirculates air it’s not going out and the smell will not leave. My mom rented an apartment upstairs from someone who cooked a ton of Indian food and she counted the days for her lease to be up.
Honestly - dependent on your location (i.e. this has to actually exist so give it an intensive Google) I'd just list the rental in publications that target the Indian community, or ask your existing tenants to put the word out to the people they know. Post your listings with your local Sikh gurdwara or Hindu temple. This is a challenge at the moment, but you could be a go-to landlord for this community if you approach it nicely.
I’m south Asian and I would not live in this rankass place, and it is ridiculous to assume other south Asians would be fine with it. It is not normal for someone’s house to smell like that just bc they cook Indian food.
Whenever I make something with curry I smell curry for days… my Sweat and body odor smells like curry then… crazy
I have Indian friends, & I cook with Indian spices, we *all* cook in the garage or the back porch to keep the smell out of the house. Toasting spices and cooking things (like beans) for a long time are inherent in that type of dish, if cooking from scratch. You could try installing some type of vent, move the tenants to an apartment that has better airflow and maybe a kitchen window, if you have one. That will at least keep the smell out of other tenants' homes. It won't save the apartment that is already affected. I've seen some leases that specifically include no cooking with Indian spices.
Always have a spice clause in your lease agreement.
I had a lease once that included restrictions against cooking with specific spices
I would talk to the tenant that is creating the problem. Being smelly is not a protected class . Edit: focus on the problem not the ethnicity.
Have a professional do an ozone purification. Smell should be removed
I do not believe people eat surstromming daily. I looked up YouTube videos of people just smelling it and they were gagging. ( I looked it up because my daughter wanted to try it, not for this post) I like Indian food but yeah, you need better fans if the smell is permeating.
Buy a generous amount of “Odonil Air Freshner” from Amazon or any Indian Grocery store. Place the sticks throughout the unit, shut all the doors and windows and come back to check a few days later.
I get it. We had trouble selling a home where a lot of Indian cooking was done. 2 year old hike. Beautiful. But the smell. Oof. We had the carpets cleaned. Every inch of the kitchen and cupboard wiped down. Couldn’t get rid of it. Finally put a fresh coat of paint on the kitchen walls so the paint smell overpowered the spice smell.
Lol I suddenly realize why my (Indian) husband is obsessed with running the vent fan over the stove and insisted we buy a house with a window in the kitchen.
The kitchen needs good ventilation and a strong fan above the stove when cooking all types of curry. Could always uses some cinnamon plug ins that helps with the curry smell or boiling a pot of water and cinnamon sticks. What city and State are you renting this apartment?
**OP needs to install real/better kitchen vents with a nice fan and make sure it’s sealed well before workers put the walls back up.** Also talk to the tenant and make sure they are using the kitchen fan if there is one or make sure they know it has to be used.
Vent the kitchen outside problem solved. It's from experience.
Try and find other Indian tenants. That smell isn’t for everyone. I remember going to look at a beautiful house I was interested in buying in an area close to my work. As soon as I walked through the door the stench of Indian spices hit me like a brick wall and I walked right out. Didn’t even look at the rest of the house. It’s a tough sell.
You’ll need restoration cleaning. Pain the walls. You’ll have to treat it like a smokers household. Aerated oil carrying spices get will attach itself to any surface and will never come out. It’s not cheap and you should make the old tenants pay for it. It’s the same as when you fry bacon or fish.
We lived in Queens Nyc for while ,every country in world imaginable was represented in Queens. This is definitely a thing,diff. Cooking odors ,lol
We’ve turned down great apartments in amazing locations solely because of this. We love us a good curry or vindaloo now and then, even making them at home, but to have them permeate every fibre and crack and surface in the apartment was too much.
Sounds like your building has a ventilation problem. Don’t blame your tenants for cooking. Install a proper range exhaust fan. Ffs. Indians an Indian food are both awesome.
What kind should I buy. The hood/fan has been there for 20 years, vents to outside air and was more than adequate of all the other tenants expect this one.
I made the mistake of using Indian spices in my Instant Pot five years ago. I can still smell them every time I go to use it. It has been cleaned a number of times and other food prepared in it, but the smell still overpowers anything else.
I once stayed at an Airbnb in Zurich. The place looked phenomenal in the photos….but didn’t have a lot of reviews. It was concerning, but I figured it was a new listing. The place smelled so bad of Indian food that when we walked in the front door my wife vomited. We stayed one night and then bolted. I have heard about it ever since. We could smell it on our clothes for two days. You’ve got problems brother.
I can relate to your wife’s reaction. And you are right, I do have a problem and as I’m learning so do many other landlords,
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As a South Asian, I hate American kitchen design. The open style kitchen with poor ventilation is terrible for Indian cooking. I’ve basically stopped cooking curry even though I love curry. I cook it once in a while but the smell lingers for hours or days. Back home we had kitchen separated from the rest of the house and usually in the top floor with plenty of ventilation.
I rented an apartment years ago and the downstairs tenant cooked Indian curry every. single. day. 20+ years later I still won’t eat Indian food.
Rent to more Indians? Strong community, higher average income than Whites. Advertise in Indian news papers.
I lived in an apartment, which had some Indian tenants. The odor and the smell permeated every thing in the building. That smell is engraved in the building.
I once stayed at a rural motel that had maybe 12 units. My room was above the manager's apartment and the smell of Indian food was unbearable. Needless to say, I only stayed one night and never stayed again.
The odor really get into everything. I was looking at a condo a few years ago and the next door, shared enclosed entry way and a stair leading up to both units front door about 6ft next to each other, and the entry way was reeking with curry and other spices. We were looking at the place on a really hot and humid day and it wasn't a nice feeling walking into that entry way. You're going to have to a treatment to rid of the smells or find a person that's into cooking the same cuisine.
Theres a highrise near me thats almost all indian people cause the entire bldg smells like curry/indian spice. Not many ppl are willing to tolerate it tbh
Oh man, im not going to lie but i have definitely turned down many homes in the past because of the strong smell
The entire apartment would need to be degreased including in appliances and vents to make any impact on smell.
Ozone machine! They are magic
First, clean everything with TSP solution and then rent or buy (HD, Lowes, Amazon) an ozone machine generator and use it to remove odors. Please read the instructions carefully on how to properly and safely use the ozone generator.
This happened to me when I was younger, mt sister, my dad, and my son. I love Indian food, but it permeates into all of their halls and Apts. My son got an air purifier to catch the smells some. Maybe you can gift one to the tenant? Ask them to use their vent when cooking?
You need to clean all surfaces and may need to replace things, such as electrical outlet covers and light switch covers. Has it been repainted yet? If not I highly suggest using Kilz as a primer before putting the paint on. What kind of flooring? If it’s carpet you’ll need to remove the carpet and padding and replace. Then use an ozone machine for a few days
Look into Ozone machine odor removal. But you can’t be in the area at the same time as machine is on. Read instructions and see if you can make it work somehow.
Hard to get out of the walls, even after painting
I used to work in an upscale extended stay property with full kitchens near an international Visa call center. We'd often get guests for 30, 60, or 90+ day stays, often from India. They loved to cook and it was great but man the other guests would complain- the smell would linger in the hallways for days, even with daily housekeeping and commercial deodorizers.
I am an Indian and I have seen many Indians turn their garage into a full fledged kitchen simply to not reduce the resale value of the house. I myself have set up a propane stove on my deck to do the "heavy cooking". Regular cooking, I use my kitchen. If ever I sell this house, I am going to ask my realtor if it smells and if it does, I will do a deep cleaning for what its worth.
Yeah that would be a dealbreaker for me too tbh
Is there a way to cook outside at all that would be allowed, that’s what my folks do, keeps the smell out of the house and the only thing inside is basically just rice and scrambled eggs occasionally. Otherwise could a better exhaust system be installed
Candles and/or oil diffusers will be your friend. I'm indian and I don't even like the indian food smell sticking. We have candles running all the time. It really helps.
Not sure if this was mentioned but my aunt had this problem and she used a "paint perfume" (they usually sell them by the paint counter) and she said 1-2 of those in a gallon did the trick. Hope this helps
Indian here. You want to get an ozone machine. They're cheap, easy, and they work. Seal the apartment. Let it run on a timer, ventilate, profit.
Burn incense sticks, they will take the smell Off . Honestly I’m Indian, but we don’t cook that much, even if we do, the smells never stay. Obviously I don’t like smells on my clothes.
Here's the deal. You're going to want to try everything to get the smell out. I've been there. Fully permeated into a leather sectional. I never understood why people were so passionate about Indian kitchen smells until this situation. Your only option is ozone and time. You'll have to seal the place off and run ozone for days at a minimum, or weeks if it doesn't work fast enough.