I have made a discovery that is so fantastic that I want to share it with everyone—
Trader Joe’s Indian Fare.
This is a small box which contains a pouch of Indian entrée. Specifically, I am talking about Punjab Choley. I had my doubts when I purchased it because how good can something “in a pouch” be? And how healthy is it? However, when I read the nutritional information, I discovered that a serving contains 210 calories, 8g total fat, and zero grams saturated and trans fats, 610mg sodium (not bad for a prepackaged main course), 6g fiber, and 7g protein. Okay, now can it be good???
I bought a couple of packages and I came across them yesterday when, at
I had planned to make fried rice for lunch earlier in the week, and cooked and refrigerated the rice, but it was too hot on that particular day so I forgot about it (the container was shoved back into the never-never land of my refrigerator). When trying to decide what to make immediately (and now I was starving, too, but hadn’t realized it until Jack reminded me), I saw the box of Indian Fare and remembered the cooked rice.
Seriously, it took less than 7 minutes to make lunch. I sprinkled a little water on the surface of the rice, replaced the cover, and heated it for 2 minutes while I found a small casserole dish, opened the packet, and poured the contents into it. Then I stirred a little lowfat plain yogurt into the mixture and added some frozen peas, then the entrée went into the microwave for 3 minutes. I let it sit for a couple of minutes while I microwaved the rice a little more. Then, voila, lunch!
I knew that it was Trader Joe’s, and I love all things Trader Joe’s, but I didn’t expect this Indian meal-in-a-pouch to be so darn good.
The sauce, made a little creamier with my addition of yogurt, was tomatoe-y and quite spicy and fragrant with cumin and cinnamon. The chickpeas were a perfect texture, not mushy at all. If it had been a little less spicy, I would have not minded, but it was absolutely delicious. Now, for dinner this would have been a little sparse, but adding another side dish would make it more substantial, and for lunch it was a perfect amount.
The other variety which we bought was Madras Lentils. At $2.19 a box, how can anyone who enjoys Indian food, and is in need of a quick meal, go wrong? Rice can be prepared ahead of time, up to four days, and refrigerated (or frozen for longer, but it would take a few additional minutes to thaw).
I love Indian food, and I wouldn’t recommend this Punjab Choley if it weren’t great (and I cannot wait to try the Madras Lentils now). Is there anything that TJ's makes and isn't good? I've already raved about some of their other products, and I really do think that I need to do some comprehensive research. I'll be in that area next Wednesday... ;)
We will be spending the long weekend at the lake house and I will probably not be back to post here until the beginning of next week. I hope that everyone has an enjoyable holiday!
Edited to say that I have since tried many varieties of the Indian Fare, but my favorite is the Madras Lentil (with a large dollop of lowfat plain yogurt-- absolutely essential!).
