Arora Creations’ Chicken Tikka Masala
October 23, 2008
A packet of organic Chicken Tikka Masala spices from Arora Creations caught my eye at my kosher butcher a few weeks ago. The price made me pause — $4.49 for spices that would wind up serving 6 — but I bought it anyway just to give it a try. I love Indian food, and J. hasn’t been into it lately so I was looking for a fix!
It was delicious, and worth every penny. (Yes, I could make the spice mix myself, but I wouldn’t. Plus buying all the spices I needed would be a much more expensive outlay.) The spice packet comes with a simple recipe on the back, so it’s easy to cook a restaurant-quality dish with minimal effort, even if you’re not familiar with Indian spices.
I served the tikka masala with brown basmati rice and side of roasted cauliflower that I’d sprinkled with garlic and curry powder.
Arora makes several other organic spice blends, including a bhindi masala mix that looks great and is one of J.’s favorite Indian dishes.
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I'm Dara, the Chick in the Kitchen. Living in the suburbs of Manhattan with my two school-aged boys and husband. Feeding my family something more diverse than a different shape of pasta each night. Read more 
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3 Comments
1.
Jodi | October 23, 2008 at 8:28 pm
I agree…just buy the pre-made spice packet! It’s likely all nice quality, the right blend and the right kind of each spice…so you get the taste you are looking for without having to think or buy larger amounts of everything…that you may never use.
I was actually thinking about the Swiss Chalet spice packet when I was cooking tonight! — Dara
2.
Sherry | October 24, 2008 at 8:45 pm
That sounds perfect. I’m a recent Indian food fan, only starting about a year ago, so while I love to eat it I’m a bit intimidated about trying to cook with spices I’m not very familiar with yet. I’ll have to see if I can find something similar here – I used the jarred Tikka Masala sauce once, but this would be good to try too.
Hey Sherry, as Cristen pointed out below, the spice packet gives you more control over the ingredients than a bottled sauce (you can reduce the fat content, for instance). Plus it takes up less space — a real positive in my tiny pantry! — Dara
3.
Cristen | October 25, 2008 at 11:08 am
I love bhindi masala so much. It’s yummy and I’d love to be able to cook it and control that amount of oil that goes into it.
That’s a good point — the recipe with spice packet called for 3/4 c. oil. I reduced it to 1/4 c. and I still thought it was a little greasy. — Dara
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