Royal India and South Indian Food

My wife and I had a very pleasant meal at Royal India. It is a delight to have an Indian restaurant so close to us here in St. Matthews. We lived in India for two years and love the food. Though we lived in Northern India, in th Punjab, we really loved the intensely hot but less oily and more diverse Southern cuisine we got in Madras and Kerala.

We had a nice conversation with the manager, and pointed out that though the idli and dosa on the menu are a start, we'd love to see the kind of true Southern thali we loved in India. He laughed and said Americans just couldn't take that kind of heat and oddness (imagine pure hot Thai food with a strong Indian influence. That's South Indian. Madras and Kerala had for hundreds of years strong trade and interaction with China and the rest of Southeast Asia).

Is he right? There are few South Indian restaurants in the country. Even the cooks at Royal India are Punjabi. Americans have learned to love chunna and tandoori and dal and naan and puri. Isn't it time for the next step?

I never buy the sentiment that Americans are not ready for a cuisine. All you have to do is expose them to it. look at Vietnam Kitchen. the place is packed everyday. everyone loves it, and who thought Kentuckians would be gobbling down fermented fish sauce and fiery hot chile paste with glee?
I always think that dumbing down your ethnic cuisine for americans is a mistake. let the chains do that.

I always think that dumbing down your ethnic cuisine for americans is a mistake. let the chains do that.

Amen, preach brother.