Thursday, 18 September 2014

Ambu Tree Marinades review


Ambu Tree recently sent me through some of their marinades to try out. I had the choice of Mild Tandoori Marinade, Spicy Tandoori Marinade and Chinese Five Spice Marinade.



I was intrigued by the name Ambu Tree and thought it must be some species of exotic tree that I'd never heard of before. I went to investigate and discovered that it is derived from a Sanskrit word meaning ‘mango’. Priya, the founder of the company, explains on the Ambu Tree website: "I have fond memories of playing under the shade of the Ambu Tree in the gardens of my grandfather’s home in India. The easy carefree nature of those summer afternoons, the warmth of the sunshine and the aromas of fresh spices from the kitchen.…To me, Ambu Tree represents natural foods, warmed by the use of spices and made easy-to-use for modern day living."


I love the fact that it is such a family-focused company, using traditional family recipes and trying to recreate childhood foodie memories. 


The focus is very much on using freshly roasted and ground spices to retain all that lovely vibrant flavour and colour. This explains why the pots need to be kept chilled, but they can also be frozen - I tested this and they are in absolutely perfect condition when they've defrosted.


I was also over-the-moon to see that these are low calorie, healthy options with no hidden nasties. Many shop bought sauces are incredibly high in fat and calories so it was a lovely surprise when I was totting up my food intake for the day on the FitBug and I discovered that the whole 100g pot of the tandoori marinade contains just 118 calories and 4g of fat of which 1g saturated. As the packaging states, "Boring food has met its match" even if you're watching your waistline !


I decided to play it safe and try out the mild tandoori paste.


 It has a lovely thick texture that is perfect for smearing over meat or fish - I used chicken breast - but you can also add water to use the marinades as a cooking sauce, something I might try next time.


I left the chicken breasts to marinate in the fridge for a couple of hours before putting them under the grill. The result was beautifully flavoured and wonderfully coloured juicy chicken - it was quite spicy though so the spicy one may need toning down with some cream !

They're quite expensive, retailing at £3.85, but the 100g pot is enough to serve 4-6 people (it's a resealable tub so you could get two meals out of it easily) and that still works out much cheaper than a takeway. For the taste, convenience and above all healthy ingredients list and low calorie/fat content, I'd definitely buy them again.

star rating : 5/5

RRP : £3.85 for 100g

for more information : http://www.ambutree.com/

Disclosure : I received the products in order to write an honest review.

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