Indian food in a box

Last night bubby and I cooked Indian food. Boxed Indian food. I know, I know. A foodie cooking Indian food from a box?! Before anyone says anything we did vamp it up. We cooked beef and added it to the sauce that came with it. And we had some pita bread. We didn't make it, but it completed our meal and added a little something.

The Archer Farms brand meal was actually pretty decent. Of course it doesn't replace home-cooked Indian food--which I have never attempted to make, but perhaps will after I complete my Spanish cooking book--but is a great substitute for anyone who doesn't want to spend too much time cooking Indian food and still want to experience the flavors and taste of India. Like I mentioned earlier, bubby and I cooked some beef and mixed it with the sauce it comes with. (This meal is really great for people who are vegetarian) It was a quick and delicious meal. Took less than 30 minutes and full of, you know, flavor explosion as all Indian food is.

We decided to add some meat to the dish so we cooked some beef and spruced it up by adding some red wine. Yum. But we did overcook the beef just a little... but still delish.

The boxed meal came with basmati rice, tikka masala sauce (which we cooked with the meat), a side dish of potatoes, and mango chutney, which was so sweet and slightly tangy but created a good balance with the tikka masala sauce.

Bubby thought the rice was un-spectacular, rather generic actually, but then again we're used to eating different types of rice and always have it readily-available. He thought the beef imparted its own full-bodied, earthy flavor to the tikka masala, though the box recommended chicken or tofu.

Bubby: "It seems more than most cuisines of the world, Indian food ought to be mixed and matched, and it seems a single Indian dish possesses as many disparate flavors working in unison with one another as entire meals do in other cuisines. The aromatic quality of Indian food might be the singular characteristic that leads people to first thinking "exotic" when they eat it."

You can definitely tell if it's me or bubby writing. He is a natural born critic. He has a lot to say, and says it very eloquently. I definitely agree with his comment to the picture above. Indian food is indeed very aromatic and tickles your sense of smell which enhances the taste. Everyone needs to try to make some for dinner. Or head over to your nearest Target and buy yourself a box!

Eat, eat, and EAT!