Do you love curry but hate how the smell lingers in your house? I cook a couple of dishes, Curry with Chicken Vegetables & Rice and a really yummy Curry Soup with Udon Noodles. This is the curry that I use S&B Mild Golden Curry Mix, it is my absolute favorite curry, I buy them 10 at a time because it is the best curry. You can try my budget-friendly meal, Curry with Chicken Vegetables & Rice for around $5 and you can find more budget-friendly meals on our $5 Meal Ideas. page.
So why does the smell linger in your house? According to
ehow.com the spices used in the curry ingredients release fat-soluble oil which causes the pungent aroma. The oil vapor is absorbed by fabrics and other porous surfaces. It pretty much gets in everything, your clothes, furniture, window treatments.
Here are some things to try if you love curry but hate how the smell lingers in your house:
If it’s summer I open all the windows and turn on fans. In the winter I turn on the fan over the stove and turn on a fan that is in my laundry room next to the kitchen. Keep them going throughout the whole cooking process and even after it’s done.
Make sure there are no coats or jackets or clothes sitting around, put them all away, and close the door. I also close the doors to the upstairs bedrooms and my closet so the smell doesn’t find its way up to my clothes.
I add a cinnamon stick to the pot of curry when I’m cooking, it doesn’t change the taste it just helps make the smell a little more pleasant. You can throw in a cinnamon stick whenever you are cooking anything that kind of stinks up the kitchen, it really does help.
I set bowls of plain white vinegar around the house and next to the stove to absorb odors. I also light a candle in the kitchen and leave it burning while I’m cooking and after I’ve cleaned up.
Pour some imitation vanilla in an oven-safe bowl (not real vanilla, have you seen the price lately) turn your oven on low and let the bowl of vanilla sit in the oven, eventually it will start smelling like you are baking cookies.
Try some vinegar hacks:
Another one of my
vinegar hacks is to pour some vinegar and water (about half and half) into a microwave-safe bowl and turn on the microwave for 30 seconds at a time. This is a great way to
clean your microwave, the condensation makes all the stuck-on particles wet and you can just wipe them off with a paper towel or sponge. It also releases that vinegar smell into the air so you have to be ok with the vinegar smell.
You can also try my recipe that simmers on the stove with cinnamon and orange peels
Homemade Natural Air Freshener, let a saucepan of this simmer while you cook the curry.
Clean up right away:
These are not dishes that you can let sit in the sink for a couple of hours while you watch TV. CLEAN UP RIGHT AWAY, rinse all the dishes and utensils to put in the dishwasher, or if you wash them in the sink get them washed right away. I’m famous for leaving pans “to soak” in the sink but I can’t do that with the curry pan. Put away the leftovers, and wash the pan right away.
Eventually, if you live in the house for a while you should change all the air filters including the one in the fan over the stove. You can take that out and wash it in a solution of vinegar and water. The furnace air filters need to be replaced every so often anyways so you can switch those out. You might want to wash your draperies, if you are hand washing add one cup of vinegar for every 2 cups of water. There are some chemical sprays that you can find at stores and online but I don’t like to use chemical sprays in the house. I try to keep it all-natural if I can.
You can find more ideas on
ehow.com, they suggest things like boiling vinegar and cinnamon sticks on the stove. Or sprinkling baking powder on your furniture, and then vacuuming. If you are looking for a similar reading try our article
Get rid of brussel sprout smell when cooking.
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