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Reena Sharma
December 9th, 2020
HY 337
Chuck Clark
Rise of Indian Food and its Flavors in America
In 1969, my grandfather immigrated to America from India with $9 in his pocket and a
dream to make a better life for his wife and daughter. When he got to America, the range of food
was very limited and bland. He tried to make Indian food but there weren’t any Indian stores that
offered that right spices such as haldi or turmeric. My grandmother immigrated to America in the
70’s with my mother and brought over all the spices needed to make all of their favorite Indian
dishes. Later, they found an Indian store with all of the spices that they needed to create their
normal food from back home. They drove an hour to this store and stocked up to the best of their
ability even though money was tight at the time. Many of their friends and neighbors had no clue
what Indian cuisine was. The first Indian restaurants that appeared in America usually were
small ones around college campuses because many students from India were coming to America
to study. Many American people at the time would rarely rent to Indian people because the
spices in their food smelled too strong and would make the whole building smell like spices.
Today, Indian food has become widely popular all around the world. There are Indian restaurants
anywhere from Barcelona to Singapore. My grandparents are shocked to see how many
American people often crave Indian food compared to how it was when they first immigrated
here.
The one thing my grandparents did have to say about the difference between authentic
Indian food and Americanized Indian food is the fact that America changed many of their
