Food Product Discussion

[bhargavi.raj]

Hello dear friends!

I have been living in the United states for a couple of years now,and there were many days when I was tired or busy I had to depend on the readymade or instant foods.
And readymade food is very vastly available now at every supercenter or Indian grocery.Be it frozen parathas or instant idli mix or frozen pizza we are always confused as to which is good and bad. finally we pay a lot just by seeing the beautiful mouthwatering pictures on the cover and end up eating or throwing something that is not even worth defrosting. :lol:
Let us discuss about the food products that we have tried (the detailed name and brand ) ,.so that people who are yet to try will have a clear idea about that. :D

I hope this will be a very usefull discussion for everyone!

[tomato]

My List is small

Ashoka brand - Methi Thepla
tastes quite good , goes well with maggi tamarind sauce

Springhome - roti prata - too much oil, tried only once, am not tepmpted to try again due to the amount of oil

Ashoka brand - vegetable jalfreze - only good for my garbage bin.

I'm a 'fresh food' person, and will avoid all these readymade stuff( as I believe they contain high amts of fat and salt) .
I case of emergency I prefer to eat just bread or plain rice and a simple veg dish. But whenever I hear my friends discuss all these ready to eat stuff i'm tempted to try it out at least once.
So i've only tried a few.

[Badri]

Ashoka brand - vegetable jalfreze

Are there any takers for any jalfreze at all, Ashoka or otherwise? We tried to make it once at home...and you are right, the garbage was just where it went into.

Anyone got the recipe for that? Maybe the wrong thread to post this, but tomato's rant against it got me started

[bhargavi.raj]

I tried Kohinoor's mutter paneer... oh god, it was so yucky! the paneer was like a leather and the gravy was loaded with oil.
for instant idli mixes, i like chitale brand. They are almost like hotel idlies and its very cheap too. we can make about 25-30idlies in one packet.

which is the best tea ?
Currently i am using waghbakri,Its okay,not very good.
Red label is the best tea i have ever used, good as a ice tea or even masala chai.

[dev]

Hi Badri,

I love veg jalfreze(not the ready to eat ones,it's the one we get in hotels)...but don't have a recipe for it... :wink:

[bhargavi.raj]

Which is the most aromatic,long and non-sticky basmati rice available here?

Eg:
Tilda
Davaat
Jafrani
Golden temple
Trophy
Himalayan
Surya

[saji]

Hey Bhargavi, Do you get Kohinoor Silky there? It is really good. Even Lal Quila Basmati is great. But these two are slightly expensive.

[saji]

Dont know if you get Ashoka frozen stuff there. Ashoka frozen Mooli, Onion, Lachcha and Gobhi Parathas are quite ok. Helps, when you are really tired after a hectic day at work. They even have frozen Puran Poli. Try them, they are good. I frankly cant stand tinned or packed gravies.

[bhargavi.raj]

Saji,I don't get Kohinoor or Lalquila, planning to ask the shopkeeper to order them if they r so good. I have seen a few ashoka stuff, never seen puran poli.
Thanks
Bhargavi.Raj

[Thattai]

Hi!

I have posted a recipe of PAneer Jalfrezi in the 'All About PAneer' thread. It is very easy to make and tastes good as well. Hope it helps.

[vm]

The canned ones and Packed food has lots of preservatives so it spoils the taste of the food. I tried hakka nooddles and it was great

[deepali128]

hi everyone,

i don't get much fresh vegetables in patel shops they are always finished. i am thinking of taking frozen vegetables. are they good? bec once i tried methi which which has less leaves and more stems. just hoping if anyone has an experience pls share it. thanx

Deepali

[bhargavi.raj]

Hi deepali,
The swad frozen vegetables are comparitively better than other brands, i liked their drumstick,chopped methi,peas very much.

[bhargavi.raj]

Hi Vm.
Hakka noodles frozen or something elsE? pls specify the brand too if u can.
Bhargavi.Raj

[bhargavi.raj]

which is the most prefrred brand in pulses,dals and grains?

A) lAKSHMI
B) Surya
c) Swad

or someother

Bhargavi.Raj

[sujathakannan]

Hi Bhargavi,

Lakshmi brand is good. If it is not avaliable my second choice would be Swad.

Sujatha

[deepali128]

thanx Bhargavi i will give a try

[di]

hi all,

we like Deep brand patra and their methi parathas are good too!
i prefer the unbranded tuar dal as the branded ones have different size of lentil(paruppu) each time!

[shanta]

How do you store chana dal? I found that it starts getting infested by some insects within a few weeks after opening the packet. :(
I've started freezing it now.

[tomato]

Good Idea shantha, I too freeze a few of the dry item which I use rarely, like besan, chana dhal, some lentils(which i get from India). Also it is a good idea to freeze nuts like cashewnuts, almonds,walnults if ur r in a hotter region to prevent them from going rancid.

[saji]

Hey Deepali 128,

I have tried Ashoka frozen chena(suran/elephant yam), gavar(cluster beans), bhindi(ladysfinger), drumsticks, green chillies and Vadilals frozen shallots, arbi(yam). All these are excellant. Especially in winter, we dont get most of the indian veggies here. Havent tried methi yet. But my mum(she is in london) gave me an idea about methi leaves. She buys them during summer, cleans(picks only the leaves) and freezes in various small freezer bags, so that she can use in winter. Why dont you try it with a small bunch and if you are successful and like it,can do them again.

[tomato]

Wow thats a great idea saji, I'm very found of methi leaves, but they r not always available. If i can freeze them when they r avaliable what more can I ask for. But as Deepali says i too found that the frozen methi leaves has a lot of stem in them.

Just a doubt sholud I wash and blanch the leaves or just pick them and freeze? Pls verify this from ur mum and let me know.

[bhargavi.raj]

Hi Tomato and Saji,
Freezing is an excellent method to prolong the shelf life of any vegetable. where i stay,we have excellent farmers market in the summers. I buy fresh produce right from the farms and in bulk. I love to freeze them.
And use it all year long
I freeze white pumkin, cut & peel and dice into the size i require and freeze in indivual portions in a ziplock freezer bag.
similarly, eggplant,bhindi,methileaves( wash it and pat it dry in a papertowel and freeze it without blanching).
I like to blanch spinach , beets , snakegroud.
I even freeze tomatoes in summer
I buy them in ripe season, blanch it and peel the skin, then blend it once in the blender and freeze them in icecube trays (cover it with a plastic wrap). whenever i need puree tomato, i add 1/2cubes in my gravies. They are always excellent.
I hope this was useful.
Bhargavi.Raj

[deepali128]

Thanx saji and Bhargavi,

i will follow ur advice. it's really helpful in winter,when i have to buy rotten veggies from store even at a high price.

[indu]

Which brand of stock cubes gives best results ? I have tried a few times with Maggi chicken cubes, but some odd smell [like cardboard or soaked paper] was there.
In what other way/dishes, can we use the cubes ? Presently I'm just using to flavour for soups.
And are these tamarind stock cubes good for replacing instead of our usual 'puli thanni' in sambar, rasam etc.?

[indu]

Which brand of stock cubes gives best results ? I have tried a few times with Maggi chicken cubes, but some odd smell [like cardboard or soaked paper] was there.
In what other way/dishes, can we use the cubes ? Presently I'm just using to flavour for soups.
And are these tamarind stock cubes good for replacing instead of our usual 'puli thanni' in sambar, rasam etc.?

[bhargavi.raj]

Hi Indu,
I am a vegeterian but my friends say Knorr cubes tastes very nice, i think they are available easily in the grocery,
I have a better idea for the pulli tani for sambhar/rasam.
When i have spare time,
i 1st make tamrind pulp.(soak tamrind in water and remove the pulp)
i boil it along with water , salt, tumeric , chilli powder and tomato puree.
about 4-5mins.
cool it and put it in ice cube trays. cover it with plastic wrap.
whenever i am gonna make rasam or sambhar i have to just empty the cubes .
its that simple.
Try it!
Bhargavi.Raj

[vm]

Hi Bargavi.Raj,

The hakka noodles are frozen one and the brand name is Mirch Masala. Its very good and does not have preservative smell. Other produts of Mirch Masala has preservative smell so dont even go near it if u r sensitive to Pres. smell . Similarly Frozen patra and kaman Dokla is great(I dont remember the brand name and if u want i will let u know the brand names next week)

[R]

Can any of you suggest me which brand of Naan is the best (dont prefer frozen ones)?

Thanks in advance.

[svasu_ani]

Hi...

For Parathas -- Deep
For spices,Pulses and other groceries -- 1st Priority Swad, then lakshmi.
For Vegetables -- Deep
For Basmathi Rice -- Zaafrani.. I have been using it regularly it is aged and tastes good..
We get tinned tomato sauce, its not like ketchup...its just tomates as puree... I use it with tomatoes or as a replacement.
For Pickles- Priya
For Puliyohare mix-777 (in bottles)is good.
I didnt like the MTR puliyohare and bisibela bath mix.

Anitha

[Urmila]

What is the best brand for frozen french fries --- Americana, Delight, McCain, Ross, Emborg, Dat shaub, Arcticgold, Parrots, Countryhome.....so many are available, very hard to choose ?

[Inimai]

Hi,

I am not satisfied with tamarind taste than what we get in India. I tried tamarind paste as well as tamarind. Can anyone suggest which (tamarind and tamarind paste) one is best for making sambhar and rasam?

Thanks!

[rajsand]

I absolutely agree with Inimai. I guess the tamarind you get here is dark brown and spoils the taste and color of most of our south indian dishes. I am sorry Inimai I hope someone can help us with this.
The frozen small onions that you get in Patel are awful. they dont cook well and take a long time to even thaw. They taste very bad.
Also, I agree with Bhargavi, the panner subzis (ready-mix) ones are just not the kind . I once bought Nav Korma and it hardly came upto one cup and the smell was yucky.
Anyways, tastes differ, so try anything with SWAD brand, they are very good. esp. Pulses.
My aunt uses LYNN brand for all her kitchen groceries. It seems you get this in AONE (indian store) in Virginia. Their idly rice is especially made and very good.
'Please try to make as much of home food as possible, know it is difficult for working women, try to make esp for growing kids and babies!!'

[tastemakers]

Hai

Which brand of garam masala and shredded coconut is good. I dont like the taste of the panner cubes that I get in Indian store ,nor am I able to make good paneer at home , I dont get proper cubes.

Is there any brand that you can suggest. My friend told me the cottage cheese that we find in American grocery , is the same as paneer. Have any of you tried it.

Thanks for sharing

Priya

[Kz]

Hi Priya,
I get the fried panner frozen cubes which are good from india shops. i make panner at home when i need crumbled paneer. even i have problems with making cubes. one punjabi lady told make paneer at home like a ball and let it set, once set cut it into cubes like u cut potatoes. that way it was better. i use this paneer while cooking for ourselves and store bought ones for guests. the home made ones break easily. i didn't like the store bought garam masalas and coconut, so usually make it at home.
kz

[deepali128]

Hey Inami,

i prefere to buy Swad tamarind. i found it best. i tried many brands even thai tamarind. but swad is the best.

[Inimai]

Hi deepali128,

Thanks! I will try swad brand next time.

[tomato]

I find tofu a good sustitute for paneer. Use the firm variety. It will not crumble while cooking.But before using it u need to get rid of its excess water. For this place a block of tofu between several layers (3-4) of paper kitchen towel or a clean cotton towel. Put something heavy on it . Leave it aside for half an hour atleast. Then cut it into cubes and roast on a tava with a tsp of ghee or butter. Use it in place of fried paneer.
Paneer lovers will be a bit dissapointed with the taste but the texture and look will be good. And once u get used to the taste u will even like it. Tofu is healthier. It is a heart-healthy, cancer-fighting, and immune- boosting food.

[Inimai]

Which is "The Best" brand of tea powder? I'm hesitate to buy the tea pwder here since Americans mostly drink ice tea. Which brand closely suit to our taste? I can get indian brand tea in indian stores but i dont want it because most of them are not fresh.

[Inimai]

Can we get the rock salt here? I want to use the rock salt for sambhar/rasam varieties as we use back in india.

[Kz]

Lipton tea bags are good( sams club) and i have tried taj mahal tea bags and red label tea powder in indian shop and they both are good. esp. red label powder is good. i didn't like any other brands in indian shops.
even i want to use rock salt but haven't found any where here, if u find it do let me know.
kz

[Inimai]

Thanks Kz! I will let you know if get the rock salt. I found that a fellow hubber discussed about the rock salt in some other thread (dont remember which one). So, I thought that we can get the rock salt here.

[indu]

What is the Mixed fruit Jam & Tomato Ketchup [other than Maggi] which comes as good as the Kissan in India ?

[Inimai]

Which brand of paneer as well as fried paneer is good?

[Kz]

Fried frozen paneer i got joy brand which is good, before i used to get a diff brand which was also good but dont remember the name threw the cover. but frozen paneer which is not fried is not good, when i tried frying them at home it splutters and it was a big mess.
Kz

[Inimai]

Hi Kz,

Thanks! Is Nanak a good brand?

[Kz]

Is Nanak's outer cover in light purple or blue outline, something like that? i think the last one i used was nanak, it sounds familiar , next time when i go for grocery shopping i will check that packet and name.

Kz

[tastemakers]

Which coffee powder is good for filter coffee. I find different types of roasting too like medium , columbian roast etc .


Priya

[gvb]

Hi Inimai,
I see that u had been asking about rock salt..Looks like "Morton" brand carries them..Only today i came to know that we can get kal uppu here.

GVB

[Inimai]

Hi Kz,

yes. that's the nanak brand.

[Inimai]

Hi gvb,

Thanks for the info! Next time i'll try the Morton rock salt.