Real Kato Blog: Today's Frozen Meal: Whole Kitchen Chicken Tikki Masala

This is Whole Foods' house brand. It claims to be made in "the traditional Indian fashion", though chicken tikka masala may well have originated in the U.K.. Still, this is one of the most popular Indian dishes worldwide, and one of my own favorites.

Taste: Tasty. It's good enough that you could mistake it for a restaurant entree, with a good mix of seasoning and spices. The chicken isn't much to speak of; it's not the tandoor-roasted chicken that you might get at a real Indian place. But hey, chicken is chicken. The basmati rice is plain but decently cooked, in no small part because of the packaging that kept it segregated from the sauce during heating. There's perhaps a little too much sauce and not enough substance, but overall, yum. Score: 4.0/5.0

Nutrition: Ah, we see where the flavor comes from: 13 grams of fat and 870mg of sodium. It's not great, but I actually expected the sodium number to be much higher. 4 grams of fiber and a healthy dose of Vitamin A help keep this from being a complete disaster. Score: 1.5/3.0

Packaging: Have to cut a slit before cooking and stir afterwards, but that's no chore. The separate sections for the sauce and rice are good in that everything cooks properly, but there's no easy way to combine the ingredients unless you use a separate dish. Score: 1.5/2.0

Total Score: 7.0/10.0

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