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1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
 A Mixed Bag Jul 07, 2010
Some of the early reviews for this entree are pretty harsh. I figured it couldn't be THAT bad so I bought a bunch at the blow out price. It would have to be pretty bad to be worth less than a buck a box... unless it was inedible of course, and then I'd have wasted $25 or so. I like Indian food so I took a chance.
The first box had me thinking the worst. I tried it alone, heated of course. It was not a taste I was used to and, as another reviewer noted, it does look gross. More importantly, there was grit in it, like sand. Not a lot but enough to disturb. About every third mouthful I'd crunch on a bit of grit and think "yuck," to myself, "the bad reviews were right."
But I bought a lot so I persevered. The next box I mixed with rice. Definitely an improvement. More like a real meal and -- surprisingly -- no grit. A relief.
A box or two later I decided to add some cooked chicken. Even better, and thankfully still no return of the sandy grit.
I finished off the first tray (a 6-pack) this way plus with toasted hazel nuts mixed into the last 2 boxes. Finally got it tasting just right for my palate.
With add-ins of your choice this entree can be a pretty nice meal, filling and relatively healthy though high in fat and salt. Alone as it comes I would only give it three stars, or "ok" as the star system rates. That assumes no grit. I would rate my modified version higher but that's not the product as sold.
One other thing I noticed as I started in on the 2nd tray of six entrees is that the spicy hot temperature rose steeply. The 2nd tray may well have been from a different batch so quality control may be uneven. At least the sandy grit hasn't made a reappearance.... yet....
It turned out to be a chance worth taking for me but I can easily imagine that others may not find it paying off for them even at a rock-bottom asking price. Your mileage may vary.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
 Good Flavor and Just Spicy Enough - Recommended Jun 25, 2010
Kitchens of India "Mild Chili Pepper Curry" is an authentic Indian dish that has a great flavor and just enough spicy heat to make it interesting. We are fortunate to have Indian friends who occasionally invite us to dinner but since we can't always count on an invitation whenever a craving comes on one us, these pre-made packets are a reasonable substitute. Here are my observations:
Pros -
+ Good Flavor; as noted above, this tastes very good to people that like Indian food (my mother hates it)
+ Mildly Spicy; this rates on low to medium of the spicy scale, might be too much heat for some since it "stays with you"
+ Low Carb; 22.5g Total Carbs - 5g Dietary Fiber = 17.5 Net Carbs in each packet (see serving size info in "Misc", below)
Cons -
- "Not as Pictured"; the picture on the packaging shows nice whole peppers, but they are actually cut up in the sauce
- Oily; this has a lot of oil that will rise to the top when cooking in a pot (we skim some off)
- High in Calories; each packet has 550 calories (400 from fat - but no Trans Fats)
Misc -
* Serving Size; package says 2.5 per packet, we find that two packets when served with rice and bread is enough for our family of four
* Filling; this is a very heavy sauce based dish
While not really a standalone meal, this is a good entree that can be used as the main course. We recently put it out when we had a BBQ and found that it also made an interesting topping on Hot Dogs.
Highly Recommended!
CFH
6 of 6 found the following review helpful:
Tasty, mildly spicy gravy for rice or roti Jun 20, 2010
Mirch (or mirchi) ka salan is a dish from Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, in southern India, often served with the local biryani, and it is intended to be a very wet curry.
Overall, this is another winner among the pre-packaged Indian meals: a mildly spicy, beautifully-colored, creamy-textured sauce for rice or bread made with a base of ground peanuts, sesame seeds, and almonds. The flavor is very complex: the onion, tamarind, and coconut give it a slight sweetness; the garlic, ginger, tamarind, and curry leaves add a bit of tangy bite; and the large chunks of chili peppers lend a very mild heat. I like to add cayenne powder to increase the heat a bit. It is also good with a few raisins and almonds sprinkled on top and I have added whole cubanelle peppers steamed in the microwave to bulk it up into a complete meal when served with brown basmati rice.
The quality of this product is similar to what might be found in a standard Indian buffet restaurant here in the U.S. Some people may not like the flavor of some typical Indian spices, especially coriander, which has a soapy taste to certain palates, but fans of Indian food who like coriander should enjoy eating this.
There are no preservatives and the mirch ka salan is vegetarian but not vegan as it contains some ghee. As is typical of these retort-packaged Indian meals, it is high in sodium and fat. As others have noted, it is easy to pour off a spoonful or so of oil before serving.
Nutrition facts:
Note that each packet is 2.5 servings but realistically is the right amount for one or possibly two people depending on what it is served with so adjust accordingly:
PER SERVING:
Calories 220
Calories from fat 160
Total fat 18g 28% RDA
Saturated Fat 4.5g 23% RDA
Trans Fat 0g
Cholesterol 3 mg 1% RDA
Sodium 650mg 27% RDA
Total Carbohydrate 9g 3% RDA
Dietary Fiber 2g 8% RDA
Sugars 3g
Protein 5g
Vitamin A 0% RDA
Calcium 20% RDA
Vitamin C 0% RDA
Iron 15% RDA
In addition to lowering the fat and sodium, it would be nice if Kitchens of India would shift to printing or labeling the foil pouch and not enclosing it in an individual box for these case sales in order to reduce unnecessary waste. The package also shows whole pepppers, and while there are large chunks, they certainly don't look like the illustration.
The sodium and fat reduce the rating to four stars, even though the texture and flavor warrant five stars.
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
inexpensive change of pace, greasy, a bit firy May 29, 2010
To be honest, it looks like something that came out of a dog. Fortunately, it tastes much better than it looks. It's greasy. You will want rice with it, or bread, or something to soak up the oil.
It's surprisingly high in calcium, which is good. It's unsurprisingly high in fats and salt but, hey, live a little. It's not seriously spicy but, it made me feel right warm after a package ("2.5 servings" or 550 Calories).
Good emergency food. It's palatable, it will last a long time without refrigeration, and it can be quickly and simply prepared in a variety of ways.
5 of 5 found the following review helpful:
The gravy is similar to butter chicken gravy Dec 05, 2009
Could do better with a little less oil. I drained out 2 tspn oil from each packet i opened.
Overall it tastes in like with rest of the Kitchens of India products.
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