NEW : Trader Joe’s COCONUT CHICKPEA CURRY (pouch)

NEW ITEM

COCONUT CHICKPEA CURRY – “a creamy recipe with tumeric and aromatic spices” (PRODUCT OF INDIA)

I saw this in the NEW ITEMS shelf yesterday and tossed a pouch in my cart as I’ve found some of “Trader Joe’s Indian Fare” dishes pouches decent. Not to mention super convenient. For example the yellow tadka dal (which I’ve since learned to make on my own watching some YouTube videos).

This new one is COCONUT CHICKPEA CURRY with coconut milk as the first ingredient, followed by chickpeas.

Here is what TJ’s has to say about the product on their website:

“Made with a relatively simple recipe that includes coconut milk, chickpeas, chopped veggies, and spices like turmeric, cinnamon oil, and dried curry leaves, this heat-and-eat Curry achieves a remarkably complex, yet beautifully balanced mix of flavor, texture, and aroma—and all after a single minute in the microwave, or a few minutes submerged in boiling water.”

https://www.traderjoes.com/home/products/pdp/coconut-chickpea-curry-075749

Eaten with some Basmati rice you can have a pretty easy meal for not much money (about $2.75 including the rice?) which you can make.

How to cook Basmati Rice (they say don’t rinse, i say do rinse, then reduce water by 2 tbls)

The Indian Fare pouches are easy to make and convenient to keep in your pantry. These are a bit faster even than frozen Indian meals perhaps by a few minutes – so not a huge difference. Be sure to try some of TJ’s frozen Indian items, many of which are VERY GOOD. See… Palak Paneer, Channa Masala, etc

MY REVIEW: You can microwave this or cook it on the stove. I did the latter. The Coconut Chick Pea curry was pretty good. Its mild from a simple, coconut milk sauce. This will be good with say Naan and Basmati rice. The dish is simple not complex, but fairly tasty with chick peas, some carrots, some onions in a coconut milk curry. However compared to say that other chickpea dish, I didn’t find this one as tasty as TJ’s excellent Channa Masala sold in the Frozen section. That dish is tastier, more complex. It tastes almost like it came from a restaurant. It is just tiny bit more expensive (50 cents) than this, but worth it. The Channa Masala is a 9. This is a 5.

However if you prefer your tastes for Indian dishes run toward mild and simple than perhaps this Coconut Chickpea curry may be to your liking. If you can, try both and decide which you prefer. My choice of the two is the frozen Channa Masala, which I adore.

$2.49 (10 oz pouch)

I believe this is VEGAN as it doesn’t list butter or ghee ?