Why is Indian food so expensive?

Spices: The spices used in Indian food tend to be particularly expensive- especially when these spices aren't locally grown and have to be imported. So, if you're in the US and have to import this stuff from across the globe, the costs add up. read more

Rent -- space is expensive. If you want cheaper food go to cheaper rent neighborhoods. Labor-- cooks have to be paid (at least minimum wage). Indian food does take time to cook, but doesn't take long to plate. So you have to have a small staff in early to prepare food, but it's easy to deal with the lunch/dinner rush. read more

Chinese food, generally speaking, relies more on fresh vegetables (carrots, peas, bean-sprouts, broccoli etc.) and meat. This means that the storage costs and spoilage costs are higher relative to Indian food, which is higher in legumes and beans that are much easier and cheaper to store, and last forever when dry. read more

Indian food is very common in singapore and you will find the whole range of Indian food - from pure vegetarian authentic south indian restaurants to North indian tandoori restaurants and also some restaurants specialising in regional specialities from Maharashtra, Gujarat, Bengali, Andhra etc. Apart from authentic indian food there is also a big variety of indian food with unique Singapore / south East Asian fusion - prata and briyani shops, rojak etc. read more