Spice Mantra! Yum!

Earlier this week I was doing a quick shop, hungry for dinner and not much time on my hands. For some reason I wandered down the frozen aisle of my local Coopers. The craving for Chinese food hit me so I looked at the offerings, and right next to it, I found a large amount of products I haven't seen before... Spice Mantra Indian Food. Added bonus, it was on special for more than half off.

I pulled out a box, always conscious of ingredients, and two things struck me right away. First, it is made in BC! The parent company, Connoisseur's Kitchen, is located in Surrey. Second, the ingredients are whole, real foods. No mystery names on the product lists here, nothing that I couldn't pronounce. At this point, we were two for two, so I grabbed a few different boxes as well as a bag of pakora, and headed home.

I threw on a quick bit of couscous and started cooking the Chicken Tikka. The instructions were a bit confusing as it said something along the lines of "to cook your butter chicken..." so I wasn't sure if it was what I should be doing, but I was hungry and time was a factor, so I dove in. It said to boil the bag of tikka in water, so I started doing that. It said it should take 6 minutes but after four it was still frozen, so out it came. I opened up the package, threw it in the bowl, and tossed it in the nuker. Problem solved.

So how was it? DELICIOUS! A step down from what you might get at a restaurant, but it did come out of a microwave. The flavours were strong, just the right amount of spice and good quality chicken. I would have liked more sauce though. I pulled the pakora out of the oven and my roommate swarmed in and scooped some up. Now, pakora are a beautiful thing when crispy and hot fresh out of the frier, so I wasn't holding out much hope for some that had been frozen and then reheated in the oven. I was shocked because they were unreal delicious. Really good. The paneer and vegetables were all individually identifiable in taste and visually, and the sauce that accompanied it was good too. The pakora crisped up quickly and quite nicely.

I think the ingredients are what really make this work. Here's what is on the side of the box: Chicken, yoghurt [milk, natural pectin, bacterial cultures], ginger, garlic, lemon juice, mustard and or canola and or soy oil, tomato puree, cream, butter, onions, spices and salt. That's it. Normal things! No crazy preservatives, just good, tasty food.

In the end, I would definitely recommend Spice Mantra products if you're looking for indian cuisine but aren't in the mood to cook from scratch or hit up a restaurant. This is a more affordable option to have on hand in your freezer for whenever the mood strikes. I've still got a few more varieties to try, including butter chicken, chicken korma and chicken kofta curry. I'll keep you updated on how those turned out, too.

I'm not the only one who thinks its good. These nuts do too. (Not the best clip but you get to see some of the products. And I agree... they don't taste previously frozen. Note that the products I bought were all in a box, not a pouch like the ones shown here.)

You can find Spice Mantra products at Coopers, Price Smart Foods and Save On Foods.

Welcome!

Hello and welcome to my little blog project!

I am a lover of all things that come from this great province called British Columbia. As they say, it really is "The Best Place On Earth" and I wouldn't dream of living anywhere else (OK maybe Oregon... but only because it's pretty much a carbon copy of here, but with better Mexican food!).

Over the past several years I have been trying to transition to supporting local and small businesses through my purchases, and staying away from the big box death stores.  I really think so so so many problems in our world could be made better by stronger local economies built on healthy, local food systems. More recently, I've come to realize there is much more that needs to be local - furniture, decor, art, cleaning products, clothing, etc. There really is no reason to be shipping things across the ocean from countries that I have never been to!

So, the point of this blog will be to challenge myself to consciously decide to buy from and support local business (by local, I mean British Columbian at a minimum, the closer to where I am, the better in most cases).  I want to find products that work that are made right here by people who put their heart and soul into making things, not factories which overwork and underpay their staff overseas. I am willing to pay more for this privilege even though I make an average salary. If the product is good, crafted or grown by people who care, then who's to say that it's not worth the "cost"?

When I can, I will attempt to make a price comparison between the product and a similar generic, big box store version and give my review of whether or not it was "worth" it. This will include a price comparison as well as more subjective reviews such as taste, quality, environmental and community factors, and health factors. Certainly local organic cherries would rate much higher on all aspects than organic cherries flown in from Chile, for example, even if they cost a few dollars a pound more. I can actually meet the farmer who grew them, who will in turn put those dollars back in to our community. The flavour and quality is so much better, with the fruit being picked mere hours before I eat it. The environmental benefits of not having to ship are obvious. And so on.

Please join me on my little project and suggest products you love! I'd love for this to be a resource for anyone looking to be a little more locally oriented, and support those working in small business in our province. Thanks for joining me!