Curry controversy finished for Tauranga Indians

Toast is on the menu for the Kaushish family's lunch, and there isn't a curry in sight.

It's Monday afternoon, and the Bay of Plenty Times is checking out the home that newly-married Indians Arun and Poonam have rented after a four-month struggle.

The Kaushishes described themselves as "curry criminals" after being turned away from 30 rental properties because, they believed, landlords worried the smell of their national cuisine would taint their houses.

But on Sunday night, the Kaushishes moved into a sunny, three-bedroom, brick-and-tile unit in Greerton after applying for the property on Trade Me.

"It's nice and quiet and it's close to my work," said Mr Kaushish, a retail store manager.

Mr Kaushish said the house's owner had been unaware of the curry controversy, but there had been a discussion about cooking.

"We've cleared it with the landlord," Mr Kaushish said. "We just have to be careful with the smells."

Mr Kaushish said that "some people did contact us" after the family's plight was publicised a week ago, but ultimately they took the Trade Me route.

The next step for the family was to buy some furniture. The house was almost barren, apart from a couple of chests in the lounge and a bed, and there was nowhere to sit.

"We need to buy almost everything," Mr Kaushish said.

Bay of Plenty rental agents have conflicting opinions as to whether there is culinary discrimination in the region's rental market, but the Auckland Property Investors' Association has highlighted an anomaly in which it is acceptable to discriminate on the basis of smoking or pets, but not on the basis of food odour.