THREE WHICHES: Curries got the taste test treatment (From News Shopper)

THREE WHICHES: Curries got the taste test treatment

11:52am Wednesday 11th February 2009 in

• Skip social links
• Print
• Email
• Comments(0)

It was a taste of India for the Three Whiches this month.

It has been a long day at work and you are too tired to dial for a takeaway, let alone cook.

In the supermarket you grab a curry in a bag.

The Three Whiches rate the best.

Curry - the unofficial national dish of Britain.

But there’s nothing worse than tucking into a tasteless curry on a dry pile of rice with a soggy naan.

The Three Whiches (Alison Masters and Helen Backway), joined by guest Which Michael Purton found out which meals were hot stuff and which ones needed to do more to curry f(l)avour?

Morrisons Eat out at home Indian Meal for Two £6.49

AM: My favourites; the korma suitably coconutty without being too rich and the tikka masala giving more of a kick, contrasted by a delicious taste of honey. The rice is a little too salty, though. 6/10

HB: I was put off by the chewy, fluorescent rice, which stuck in my teeth and the slightly dry chicken in the korma. The tikka masala was the best bet in this meal, succulent chicken in a rich tomatoey sauce. 5/10

MP: The korma was delicious, however whoever made the tikka masala seems to think tongue-burning heat is a substitute for taste, as eating it was like licking a scorching radiator 6/10

Waitrose Indian Takeaway for Two £6.99

AM: The korma is very mushy; teeth or the ability to chew are not required. The tikka masala and peace offering accompaniment of Bombay potatoes rescues the overall package but the rice is dry and not unlike the grit we have been scattering during the recent cold snap. 5/10

HB: The korma had an unfortunate vomit-like look to it which was not helped by the lack of much meat. The masala had more flavour but was too rich and creamy for my delicate English palate. 2/10

MP: This korma only tasted slightly better than it looked. The chicken in the tikka masala was too chewy too, so this was overall the worst of the bunch. 3/10

Tesco Indian Meal for Two £6.50

AM: I’m not entirely convinced the tikka masala here is a curry. Unless, of course, there is a traditional Indian component hiding somewhere behind the barrage of garlic and tomato which screams ‘Italian’. The garlic clove(s) were let loose on the korma too, although even that doesn’t disguise the taste of packaging. 3/10

HB: I had to look twice at this brown sludge-like substance to realise it was supposed to be a chicken tikka masala. The dry, stringy meat seemed been more at home in an Italian sauce. The korma with tender chicken pieces was better. 4/10

MP: Garlic seemed to have been the flavouring of choice when making this tikka masala, which I didn't mind. However the chicken was stringy, and the korma was more boring than one of my colleague's anecdotes. 5/10

Sainsbury’s Chicken tikka masala and Chicken madras Meal for Two £7.49

AM: The multi-coloured kids’ party style rice is a bit off-putting (and resembles fishing bait) but the curries are very tasty. The rich tikka masala is the only one I had to turn down seconds of and the moist madras is the hottest of them all. 5/10

HB: This one was my favourite despite the pink rice resembling something you may be served at a kids’ party. The honey-flavoured tikka masala was sweet and quite rich and the madras (a nice change from korma), though a bit sloppy was full of tender chicken with a real kick in its tail. 6/10

MP: I've never boiled a kettle, dipped a sponge inside and then sucked it, but I imagine it would taste like this masala: hot, wet, and bland. The tikka masala, however, was curry perfection: flavourful and spicy without being too hot. 6/10

In the end it was the Morrisons’ meal which was a true Indian banquet.