I first noticed these guys at the Christmas continental market, held every year in the grounds of Belfast's City Hall.
Essentially their product range comprises of a variety of spice mixes designed to make any number of specific Asian curries. Now as an advocate of culinary proficiency I have always tried to cook things from scratch, I stopped using spice mixes and pastes at least two years ago. So I was a bit hesitant at trying these, primarily because I prefer doing it myself to get it the way I like and because they generally contain a raft of ingredients more commonly found in a lab.
I do remember at one point seeing spice mixes in their dry form but it seems they've move on to doing the pre-prepared sauce. All you have to do is select your meat and you're away.
It's £4 for a single pot or 3 for £10. In my opinion it is a bit steep. I tried the Thai Red curry mix, cooking it with chicken thighs, diced onions and a handful of fresh coriander at the end.
I will say it was pretty well balanced. A nice combination between the heat of the chillies and the freshness of the ginger, galangal and garlic. I wouldn't have put it up there with something out of a good restaurant or if I put the time into making a paste myself. It's hard to beat the freshness, depth and immediacy of the flavours when it's made at home,
I did check the website and find that they also have hydrogenated fats in the recipe, fats now banned i several European countries due to proven links to cancer and obesity.
If you are the sort of person that favours fantastic fresh food I would buy the ingredients and spend half an hour making it yourself, everything is available from your local supermarket and or St George's Market. If you aren't quite as picky about the origins of your food you can find comparable pastes elsewhere for a quarter of the price, which will last a lot longer. read more