Ethnic Gourmet serves up a mild taste of India with Palak Paneer

Product: Ethnic Gourmet Palak Paneer – $3.99+

Frozen entrees are sometimes a necessary evil.  And sometimes…they aren’t as evil as others.

Ethnic Gourmet, maker of a variety of frozen entrees from Thai, Malaysian, to Indian, brings forth a plethora of flavors and ethnic cuisine in their meals.  And they are easy.  Zap them in the microwave as directed on the box and dinner (or lunch) is served.  Well, I spotted quite a few of these in my grocery store on special (only $0.99 each) so my roommate and I grabbed a few while they were affordable.

Our country of choice: India.

My roomie snagged the Chicken Tikka Masala.  I grabbed for the Palak Paneer, yes…the creamy spinach and soft cheese won me over again, and happily placed it in the shopping basket.  But then I took pause, recalling that Trader Joe’s variety of this had 2 servings in the package.  So, I went over the nutrition information and confirmed that one tray was equal to one serving.  Whew.  No consuming over 500 calories for me this time.  This is the correct way to package a frozen meal.

It heated up very well in the microwave.  Four minutes.  Stir.  Another three minutes.  Let stand.  Serve.  Yep…I told you this was easy-peasy!

I admit, Palak Paneer only looks good at Indian restaurants.  The frozen versions just look like…well…crap.  It smelled fantastic though, so I poured the rice into a bowl and topped it off with the creamy spinach, sauce, and cubes of soft cheese.  Well, the cheese was supposed to be soft.  Unlike other varieties that I’ve had, this cheese was slightly on the dry side.  I guess that’s what I should expect from a frozen entree.  It wasn’t bad though.  It could have used a bit more spice.  The box indicated a medium heat, but it was rather mild to me.  Overall though, a good meal at only 35o calories.  Not bad.

As far as taste went, this was good.  Right up there with Trader Joe’s…but none of them quite at Amy’s Kitchen (note to self: review Amy’s Kitchen’s Palak Paneer) standards.  I loved that this was ideally one serving and that it was rather filling too.  The cheese was the downfall however.  If it had been soft and melt-in-your-mouth awesome like paneer should be…well…it might be a different story.  All-in-all, though, you can’t argue with a company whose frozen entrees are free of artificial flavors, colors and preservatives.  In fact, the spotlight goes immediately to the flavor – each spice can be tasted throughout the dish.

So, that is something!

I would probably give this entree another go, but I know there are other products that are just as good, if not better, available out there.  Or, maybe I’ll just stop into my favorite Indian restaurant and get the real thing next time.

As it is, convenience is nice, flavor is good, but it didn’t completely wow me.  However, the calorie count at least was far better than Trader Joe’s variety, yet not quite to Amy’s Kitchen standards yet.  Close though.  Very close.