No ill intent perceived (or mentioned) on my end - just the sheer futility of it - especially when the possible culprit seemed to be what a few of us had suggested pretty much immediately, i.e. the level of spice/heat in the dishes consumed.
But then I also didn’t see any ethnic “bent” in the OP 
Brown!
Sure, but is OP American? How is OP’s health insurance? Even with good coverage, both appointments with specialists and actual helpful answers can be elusive. If OP is having an odd but not life threatening reaction to a food, this is a fine place to start while they wait weeks for an appt with their GP, then a few months for an appt with an allergist, then get inconclusive results. 
Up to a point, I agree. I have no idea as to the OP’s location and/or health insurance options available to them. None of us do.
However, I would think that this is not the forum for members of this site to be offering up possible medical reasons as to the coughing when they don’t know the OP, don’t know the actual specifics, don’t know the food eaten, don’t know the spiciness of said food, and other potential underlying issues that could be complicating matters for the OP.
In the meantime, perhaps the OP just avoids spicy Indian food until those appts. with doctors, specialists, allergists, etc. can happen. Again, just my opinion on what is, after all, a FOOD board. (Except for NAF.)
Especially given the myriad of non-spicy Indian dishes available 
Allergy testing is a crapshoot, in my experience. I had the standard 32-drop scratch test on my arm, after which I was told that I had no food allergies, so the allergist could not tell me what was causing severe hives. I then went to an “environmental doctor” (a fully-qualified MD, who was looked down on by the medical profession) who did 8 hours of testing, after which he told me I was allergic to beef, rice, and coffee. I stayed away from them, and was fine. Curiously, years later I mentioned this to another allergist, who told me that you should challenge your body from time to time, so I did. I no longer have those allergies.
I was dumbfounded when a doctor administering an antihistamine shot to me asked me if I knew that the problem could be due to stress. Still chewing on that!
Most of the responses aren’t medical diagnosis speculation, though.
This is a food board, so OP’s can fairly assume that at least some people will have familiarity with Indian restaurant food ingredients that goes beyond “too spicy!” or “must be the heat!” or “too much spice!” — which are comments people who don’t know much about Indian food might make about it.
OP cooks Indian food at home, and has traveled to India multiple times (Iirc OP might have an indian son in law, unless I’m confusing her with someone else from Chowhound).
There are specific ingredients that go into specific dishes, and OP eventually shared what she had eaten so others might be able to shed light on whether those might be throat irritants.
What I’m wondering is why people who don’t have any or enough familiarity with the cuisine in question to actually help figure out which ingredients or preparations might be at fault would engage on this thread in the first place — either with ignorant catch-alls or by mocking OP’s question and subsequent engagement by others. There’s no compulsion to be on a thread you’re not interested in or have nothing to add to.
(And this is from someone’s whose first response was to ask more questions and then suggest an allergy panel via a doctor.)
By the way, these kinds of questions (medical-adjacent of various varieties) get asked all the time on this board, with people offering their thoughts and suggestions in a non-expert capacity.
For some reason someone has taken objection only to this one.
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Re: Commenting on futility of others’ comments - Sounds like a good opportunity to scroll on by without commenting. 
Hmmmm. I wonder just how familiar the OP is with Indian food when they confuse chai with chaat?
Anyway, looks like our experts on All The Things are out in full force, so I’ll heed your much appreciated advice and get on with my day 
I tested negative to multiple cat allergy scratch tests. I am highly allergic to cats and unfortunately got one based on this incorrect information 
Regardless, there were some, and IMO, inappropriate for this board.
This may not help at all as all spices are not “spicy”, and “non-spicy” Indian dishes may still contain the ingredient that is irritating OP’s throat (for eg, it could be black salt, which is not “spicy” in the least, or cumin, also not spicy and yet my friend’s kid has an allergy to a tree bark family that includes.
Which is why one of my suggestions was to avoid Indian food at restaurants altogether, but that’s OP’s choice.
I guess I would say flag and let a moderator decide. Or just scroll by. Don’t think anyone here was claiming to be a doctor or suggesting the OP take their advice and not consult a doctor. There were plenty of qualifiers and “coulds”
All this talk about propriety in reaction to fairly benign comments feels a little bullying, honestly. Or at least kind of ungracious.
They are no different than ones on the other threads I posted, so what’s new?
No need to be snide. If you check our Community Guidelines, personal attacks are discouraged.
I don’t understand what you’re saying … I wasn’t confusing chai and chaat. I like chai masala, which is tea with milk and spices.
Yes, my former SIL is from Northern India, we’re still great friends!
I appreciate all the suggestions I’ve received here.
My reactions at Indian restaurants don’t warrant a doctor visit, I consider all this a minor annoyance and I recover pretty quickly.
It was interesting that your mother has similar reactions.
So is trying to shut people down just bc you don’t care for their comments, yet here we are.
OK folks. Unfortunately this thread has gone from helping someone discern a possible cause of a problem to personal attacks and a flurry of flags. We’re going to lock this now.
