The people from Patak's recently sent us some of their new line of frozen curries to try out. We decided to make a bit of a curry night of it and invited a few friends over to enjoy a film and a curry.
We picked a film with a bit of an Indian theme to go along with the curries. Here is what we thought. (Of the curries, not the film.)
King Prawn Balti with Pilau Rice - Cooked King prawns in a tangy tomato sauce with onion, peppers and coriander served with pilau rice. Medium heat.
I did not taste this one as I am allergic to prawns, but Todd says it was really delicious. It also had a fair number of prawns in it and the sauce was rich and thick looking.
Vegetable Jalfrezi with Pilau Rice - A selection of vegetables, including red pepper, sweet potato and green beans in a spicy and aromatic tomato sauce, served with Pilau rice. Medium heat.
I quite liked this one, although in all truth it did not resemble the one on the cover of the box. It was delicious but I would have liked a few more vegetables in it. Vegetables are not a really expensive ingredient. The sauce was very nice however.
Beef Madras with Pilau Rice - tender pieces of beef in a spicy tomato and onion sauce with crushed red chilli and cumin, served with Pilau rice. Hot.
I didn't taste this one as I am not overly fond of really hot and spicy food. Again there was a lot more beef in the photo on the cover of the pack, but overall those who tried it felt it was well flavoured and enjoyable. The beef was tender.
Chicken Vindaloo with Pilau Rice - Tender pieces of chicken tikka in a fiery hot chilli curry sauce served with Pilau rice. Hot.
Hot, hot! Well liked by those who enjoy hot curries. Once again not exactly like the cover photo, but there was a fair amount of chicken in a rich and well flavoured sauce.
Chicken Korma with Pilau Rice -Tender pieces of chicken in a rich, creamy coconut sauce with delicately balanced aromatic spices, served with Pilau rice. Mild.
This was my favorite. I love chicken korma anyways, and this was mild enough for my taste. There was a fair amount of chicken in it. We actually received two of these and one had a lot of chicken whilst the other one only had a few bits. So that was a bit of a let down there. The sauce was thick and flavourful and nice and mild and a bit fruity.
Overall - These would make a nice quick meal for one if you were in a hurry and couldn't wait or take the time to cook a curry from scratch. All were nicely flavoured, which is what you would expect from a company like Patak's. We were a bit disappointed in the amounts of meat/vegetables in most of them, feeling that there was more sauce than anything else in most of them. It was a bit hit and miss as could be seen from the Korma. More care needs to be taken there, but over all they were not bad and I can see myself picking up a few of these to keep in the freezer to have on hand for times when we want something really quick. Oh . . . none of us were terrifically impressed with the rice. it tasted alright, but some of it was kind of broken up and bitty, not whole grains, more like couscous. If they could get the rice right and be a bit more constent with the amount of meat and veg in their packs, these would be perfect.
Patak's Frozen Curries are available in the freezer section of Tesco now. RRP £2
I guess when all is said and done, for a £2 curry, these were actually quite good value for money spent.
Oh, and the film . . . four stars!
Note - I was sent a variety of frozen curries free of charge for review, but was not required to write a positive review. Any opinions are entirely my own.
