Foods from warm areas tend to be spicy. In fact, one of the reasons Great Britain colonized India was because of the spices produced there. British food is famously bland so one can see why they were attracted to India.
Indian food, then, tends to be spicy. They use a combination of spices, such as cinnamon, cardamom, turmeric, nutmeg, cloves, and cumin. While there is a spice called 'curry' in many American grocery stores, in actuality this is the name of a type of dish in Indian cuisine, and that dish is flavored with a mixture of spices called garam masala. Good cooks of Indian food actually create their own garam masala, putting together the spices and grinding them up (a blender works really well for this). That way the garam masala is fresh.
At a restaurant, you might try a variety of Indian foods, such as poppadom (a crisp, spicy bread, with the consistency of a potato chip), naan (a bread that looks like an elephant ear from the fair), various types of stew-like dishes such as curry, tandoori chicken, the wonderfully-flavored basmati rice, and even various Indian desserts. Often you can get a meal that includes several different dishes to taste, that way you can find out what you like the best. By the way, dishes with beef are not traditional, so if you can't stand the idea of lamb, order chicken. Also, the vegetarian dishes in Indian cuisine are very tasty and don't give you the impression that you are missing something important.
It is really not hard to learn how to cook Indian food. Most cities have an Indian grocery store where you can buy Indian food. You might want to buy all your spices for all your cooking at the Indian grocery store - you can get a whole package of cinnamon sticks for less than one of those little bottles of cinnamon at the American grocery.
The library or a book store can be a great place to get cookbooks so you can try your favorite dishes. The actual procedures are different from American styles of cooking, for example, you might make a blend of ginger, onions, and garlic and fry this 'paste' up in a frying pan as a base for a fragrant, tasty dish. But the cookbooks will explain and you can enjoy making homemade, fresh Indian food. Another option is online films - there are many free, expertly filmed videos out there today showing you how to make the perfect Indian Food. I personally recommend VideoJug.com, so check it out when you can.
If you haven't tried it, go to a restaurant and try Indian food. It is delicious!
