Geeta's, the iconic Indian brand, have just launched a brand new product range called Spice Route, a dry spice rub that can be used to marinate meat or fish or as the basis for a sauce based curry dish. The new line champions different regions of India such as Gujurat, Kashmir and Punjab and includes seven different flavours - Rogan Josh, Dhansak, Kebab, Keralan, Tandorri, Tikka and Chettinad and they sent us through a couple to try out.
I decided to use the Keralan spice mix and adapted the recipe on the back of the pack to accommodate what I had in the fridge - pork, onions, carrots and mushrooms.
I got peeling and chopping and started browning off the meat and vegetables in some olive oil.
While this was cooking, I opened the Geeta's pack to see what was inside - a rather large portion of spice that is hermetically sealed in a plastic sachet to keep the freshness and flavours intact. The packaging says it serves four but this looked like a rather large measure so you could get away with using half and saving the rest for another meal.
I added the contents of the sachet to the meat and vegetables, stirred it so everything was evenly coated then added a tin of chopped tomatoes. I had a little taste and was suprised at how spicy it was, as it was labelled as medium, which is usually quite tame. I decided to throw in the last couple of handfuls of risotto rice that were sitting in the cupboard, to create a sort of biryani.
I still thought it was way too hot to appeal to the Madhouse family's rather delicate palates so I raided the cupboards for some ingredients to turn down the heat a little. I added lots of crème fraîche but also stirred in some dried apricots and dried cranberries. This unexpected sweetness offset the spiciness nicely.
In the end, I don't think it was anything like a Keralan curry is supposed to be, but it was very nice, served with a naan bread !
star rating : 4/5
RRP : £1.49 each
available nationwide from ASDA stores
Disclosure : I received a couple of Geeta's Spice Route sachets in order to write an honest review.
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I love the packaging, it really draws you in!
ReplyDeleteLook lovely
ReplyDeleteThe Dansak spice pack was stunning.
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