Jar vs. Homemade

I received an email a few months ago from Patak's Original, the company that makes a variety of Indian cooking spices and sauces. The Chicken Tikka Masala recipe that I posted on January 27, 2007 apparently sparked their interest, and they asked me if I would try their Tikka Masala Curry cooking sauce (medium heat) and share my opinion.

Tikka Masala is a curry dish in which chicken chunks (tikka) are served in a rich red, creamy, lightly spiced, tomato and yogurt-based sauce. It's one of those dishes that I have to order every time I go to my favorite Indian restaurant...it's just so good.

I don't generally endorse fast food since it's loaded with sodium and other bad stuff. I actually like to be able to pronounce the ingredients that go into my belly! Plus, what if the jarred stuff is better than my recipe?! How embarrassing would that be? I replied with a hesitant "yes" and waited for my jar of cooking sauce to arrive.

I finally got around to trying the stuff out, and you know what...it was actually very good.

The ingredient list actually impressed me: water, tomato, onion, yogurt (spelled wrong, btw), cream, spices, concentrated tomato puree, sugar, corn starch, lemon juice, garlic, salt, vinegar, ginger, turmeric, paprika, cumin seeds, black pepper, coriander seeds, cilantro and dried crushed chili. Not artificial colors, flavors or preservatives. WOW! Most home cooks probably know what every single one of those ingredients are! DOUBLE WOW! (P.S. - this product is Gluten Free.)

For a complete meal all you have to do is follow 3 easy steps...1-2. Heat some oil in a large skillet and brown up some chicken breast, 3. Pour the jar of sauce over chicken and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Of course, I jazzed it up a bit with some sliced onion and green bell pepper, cut into 1 inch chunks, then served the whole thing over some steamed rice and garnished with a little fresh basil for color. Naan on the side.

This jar sauce did have a little more heat than my recipe, and it's a heck of a lot more convenient and less time consuming than cooking tikka masala from scratch...but it was missing *something* and I think that something was the tang of plain yogurt. I would probably add about a 1/3 cup of plain or Greek yogurt next time and maybe a touch of nutmeg. The jarred sauce was not as smooth as mine, but the color was gorgeous. Of course, like any curry you might make at home, the smell lasted for days. In fact, a day later I went out with some friends and one of them mentioned that it smelled like curry was seeping out of my pores. Not sure if that's a good thing!


My final verdict...if you have the time and desire to make a home cooked meal of Chicken Tikka Masala, definitely go with my recipe. However, if you want dinner in 20 minutes Patak's Original Tikka Masala Curry cooking sauce is a pretty darn good substitute. I'll be keeping a jar in my pantry.

Pad Thai

Weekly meal planning has gone to hell this week, due to our new puppy addition. It's much more fun to play with Patches than it is to pour over cookbooks right now.

Which is why we ate dinner out of a box last night. (Gasp!)

I LOVE PAD THAI! It's what I order when we go out for Thai food. I love the rice noodles, and the sweet yet slightly sour and spicey sauce that accompanies it. I especially love the many textures you get in the dish - the noodles are soft, but still have a bite to them, the peanuts provide a chewiness when they hit the heat, and the bean sprouts lend a nice crunch.

I've been reluctant to try to make original Pad Thai from scratch, when this box version tastes so good. Dinner is ready in a snap - - and because you actually have to cook something, you feel good about making it. It's almost as easy as picking up the phone and ordering take out! For my money, the Thai Kitchen brand is definitely the best one on the store shelves. (Damn, I wish I was getting paid for this review!) I change up the recipe slightly from the directions on the box, depending on my culinary mood.

Thai Kitchen's ORIGINAL PAD THAI
(makes a meal for 2)

1 box Thai Kitchen Original Pad Thai Stir Fry Rice Noodles with Sauce (see picture above)
2 chicken breasts, cut into strips*
12 medium shrimp, de-shelled and de-viened*
6 oz. tofu, cut into cubes*
2 eggs
4 tsbp vegetable oil
1 can of bean sprouts, drained
1/4 cup green onions, sliced into 1-inch straws
1/2 cup peanuts, roughly chopped
boiling water

In a large bowl, soak rice noodles in boiling water for approximately 20-25 minutes.

When you have about 5 minutes left in your soak, heat 1 tbsp oil in a large skillet over high heat. Scramble eggs, stirring constantly. Once eggs are cooked, remove from heat and set aside. Place remaining oil in skillet, and once hot, saute chicken, shrimp and tofu. Add soft rice noodles and sauce packet, and stir to combine. Let cook a couple of minutes until the noodles absorb all of the sauce. Add green onions and peanuts. Cook an additional minute. Finish the dish with cooked eggs and bean sprouts. If desired, garnish with some additional green onion and chopped peanuts. Sometimes I add a lime wedge if I want to be fancy!

*These proteins are completely optional. Last night, I made it with only chicken - which is what I had on hand. However, I've made it with no proteins, or all three, and it is still delicious.


The last time I made it, I didn't have any peanuts (I know I had some - - but they were mysteriously eaten!)...so I added a tablespoon of crunchy peanut butter. I never even missed the peanuts!

BTW - these rice noodles are gluten free, which is pretty darn awesome if you adhere to a gluten free diet.