[goos]

Is this any different from saying that neo-minimalism is "better" than neo-expressionism?

Your criteria for evaluating food seems to put heavy emphasis on visuals (as you mention indian dishes look post-digested) and freshness of ingredients, but these criteria are not universal. As the article mentioned, one big difference is that Indian cuisine is deeply intertwined with ayurvedic medicine (like hot spices being good for you if you're lethargic,) and thus emphasizing the health benefits of said spices. And that's not even getting into how flavor itself is highly cultural.

With this in mind, attempting to apply any objective judgement is moot, because your success criteria are entirely different.