Topic: Aldi Chicken Tikka Masala

[George]

I'd think this was good if served in a restaurant. Recommended.

[Peripatetic Phil]

Any idea if there are any other (Indian) dishes in their "Gastro collection" range, George ?  Not being a fan of CTM, I would nonetheless like to try something in the range that is a little more savoury and spicy.  OK, never mind, just checked online — beef Madras, butter chicken, chicken jalfrezi.  I'll given the chicken jalfrezi a go, I think.
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** Phil.

[George]

The only other one I tried was the Jalfrezi but it didn't impress me much, to be honest.

[Peripatetic Phil]

Oh.  Shame.  Perhaps I won't bother.  My only problem with trying the beef Madras is that after almost 60 years of eating in British Indian restaurants, the idea of beef in a curry just doesn't feel right to me.  Goat, mutton, lamb, chicken, king prawns — all seem natural, but beef somehow seems 'wrong' ...

[George]

I agree that beef dishes seem out of place for a BIR, even though one of the first curries I have ever had was a Vesta beef curry. I may try Aldi's butter chicken to see how it compares to the excellent version from M&S. I accept that creamy curries are not to everyone's taste.

[Peripatetic Phil]

I ended up buying a chicken jalfrezi and a butter chicken (there were no beef Madras), so will report back when I have eaten them.
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** Phil.

[Peripatetic Phil]

Cooked the chicken jalfrezi this evening, and served it with a ghee-fried paratha.  Not bad at all.  I ignored the cooking instructions and fried the contents of the packet in a mixture of chilli-infused and garlic-infused rapeseed oils, added a liberal amount of kala namak to the pan, and cooked it at 50% (induction) until I felt that it had reached the desired temperature and reduction.  Sufficiently good that I will probably purchase some more.  Possibly the butter chicken tomorrow.
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** Phil.

[Peripatetic Phil]

[...]Sufficiently good that I will probably purchase some more.

Sadly impossible.  Only the butter chicken remains in stock, and as I haven't yet eaten the first of these, it did not seem a good idea to purchase more at this stage.

[George]

I assume many other people are on to this range as very fine tasting. The shelf was almost bare at my local Aldi, this morning, but I did manage to pick up a butter chicken, so I can compare it with Aldi's chicken tikka masala and the M&S butter chicken which is sensational.

[Peripatetic Phil]

Just eaten the butter chicken now.  Needed a very large amount of kala namak (maybe three teaspoonsful), and the almond flakes were an unpleasant surprise, but overall a surprisingly good dish.  I shall return to Aldi St Austell to snatch up a few of the remainder tomorrow, insha'Allah.
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** Phil.