Silicone won't smell like curry, but it might look like it.

Silicone is the better bet for odors, but don’t expect it to stay pretty after a red curry.

The short version: silicone wins on smell, plastic wins on appearance — and neither is perfect. Silicone is non-porous, so curry and tomato odors don’t soak in. Wash it and it’s neutral again. But those same pigments (turmeric is the main culprit) can stain the surface. Your box will look orange-ish even though it smells clean.

Plastic goes the other way. Polypropylene is also non-porous, but it absorbs odors over time, especially if you microwave it or run it through the dishwasher. That leftover curry smell is nearly impossible to fully remove. Stains on plastic are usually accompanied by odor, so it’s a double whammy.

If you’re choosing between the two because of tomato sauce and curries specifically, go silicone. Smell matters more than looks, and there are fixes for staining — a paste of baking soda and water, or leaving it in direct sunlight for a few hours usually knocks it out. There’s no real fix for a plastic container that smells like last Tuesday’s dal.

A stained silicone box is better than a smelly plastic one.