I've been having adverts for "Mrs Balbir Singh" spices coming up in my FB feed for some weeks now. I normally grind my own spices, so I ignored them.
I succumbed a few days ago. We had recently tried a new (to us) place for Indian takeaway and I'd had the lamb chops. I really liked them, and fancied making them myself. I'd seen that there was a "Masala Chops" mix available, so I thought I'd buy a few mixes and have a go.
The smaller ones have inner seals with 3 openings and a fourth, closed, position. I can see that they will keep the spices as fresh as possible.
The recipe cards are really good quality. I'm going to laminate mine, otherwise I'll inevitably get them caked in carp when I'm cooking.
I decided yesterday that I'd try the Rogan Josh. This wasn't actually one of the mixes I would have chosen, it just happened to come in the set I picked. I had some cubed mutton in the freezer, so I decided to use that.
The recipe card was easy to follow. I kept it out of the way of my cooking, as I hadn't done anything about the laminating at that stage. It wasn't a complicated recipe, and I had all the ingredients I needed apart from almonds. I substituted cashews, as I figured that the ground almonds were partly there as a thickener, and cashews do a great job of that in soups.
The Garam Masala, added in the last five minutes of cooking, smelled divine; much better than my homemade one (and better than other ones I'd bought in the past).
The result was really, really, good. Better than I've made before. My husband commented on how good it was, and I don't think he even realised that I was trying a new mix.
I've labelled the two pots that I used because I keep my spices in a drawer, so need the description on the top. I'm looking forward to making it again.
I'm also keen to try some of the other mixes (including the Masala Chops).
The kits aren't cheap, but - for me, at least - they are worth the money.
