Friday, November 11, 2011

Central Market - Chicken Vindaloo (8.5/10)

Summary
  • Price: ~$4.00
  • Overall: 8.5/10.   Very spicy and flavorful.  Mostly healthy, cheap option if you're craving Indian food.  Great if you're veggie-phobic; only chicken and rice. 
  • Healthfulness: 8/10.  Ingredients are simple and healthy.  Great protein (26g) and fat (11g), but a little too high in carbs (62g).  Claims 4g of fiber also.  No vegetables at all, though.
  • Portion Size/Filling:  9/10.  This is a medium to large portion size at 440 calories, that will keep you full for 3-5 hours.  Somewhere between a 6" turkey Subway sandwich and a Big Mac. 
  • Flavor: 8/10 (Spiciness: 9/10).  Very intense Indian flavors.  Very spicy.  Not for the faint-hearted.
  • Texture: 9/10. Light, fluffy white rice.  Good quality chicken with well blended curry.
Beer Pairing - Bass, Guinness
Numbers
  • Calories: 440
  • Fat: 11g (0g Trans Fat)
  • Carbs: 62g
  • Fiber: 4g
  • Protein: 26g
  • Sodium: 800mg
Details
Healthfulness:  Excellent quality ingredients, as you would expect from a Central Market dish.   Who uses Organic Canola Oil in a $4 frozen meal?  With 11g of fat, 26g of protein, and 62g of carbohydrates, the meal is decently balanced, if not a little too heavily weighted with carbs.  The only downside is the lack of vegetables both for nutrition and variety. The box does claim 4g of fiber despite the lack of vegetables.  (8 out 0f 10, would've been higher but for the lack of vegetables)
Portion Size/Filling:  At 440 calories, it is a medium-large meal that would work well for a lunch before a semi-active afternoon of walking or an early dinner with a semi-active evening of cleaning or gardening.  The calorie count is about the same as one-and-a-half 6" Subway chicken breast sandwiches, and after eating this meal, you feel about as full.  (9 out of 10, a lot of rice/carbs so not ideal if just watching tv or going to bed)
Flavor:  The flavor is intensely spicy, which is to be expected from a dish named Chicken Vindaloo. The dish is definitely spicy, with an impact on the first bite.  Make sure you're lips are not chapped, as this will definitely burn them.  (8 out of 10 for the intensity.  9 out of 10 for spiciness)
Texture:  The rice is very light and fluffy, better than most Indian restaurants in fact. The chicken is slightly tough, as is common for frozen meals, but definitely edible. The pieces seemed like mostly white meat with no fat or cartilage. The sauce was well blended and was neither too watery nor too grainy.  Having the rice in a separate compartment from the chicken  allows the rice to remain dry and fluffy during cooking and mixed with the curry only at the time of eating.  (9 out of 10, mostly for the rice)

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1 comment:

  1. Something has changed in

    Central Market - Chicken Vindaloo
    All Natural - Central Market HEB
    Chicken Vindaloo - Murgh Vindallo
    0 41220 25395 1

    We have been eating this product for years. We love it.
    When we follow the instructions the rice is suddenly hard. We are trying our own experiments to make is softer like it used to be but we are getting frustrated.

    If I had to guess, I would think either the rice has less water in it or it is undercooked in the boxes that we recently purchased. We buy 8-9 at a time and we are feeling very sorry that we did.

    We are hoping this is a temporary thing or someone can contact the manufacturer.

    Thanks

    ReplyDelete