Kitchens Of India Recipe Paste, Vegetable Biryani, 3.5 Ounce (Pack of 6)

No need to look it up and reorder. Auto shipping is very convenient. I receive this product automatically each month. Foil envelopes in individual boxes contain a rich Indian Briyani spice paste. Each box contains a packet of peppercorns, cinnamon stick pieces,leaves, and cardomum seeds to add to the mix. Delicious taste and a wonderful aroma each time!

BACKGROUND: Nope. I'm not Indian, never been to India either. I'm 2nd Generation Italian-American. I do cook many ethnic foods and Indian has been my favorite for years (don't tell either Grandma!). Indian from scratch can be laborious and KOI sauces are a nice shortcut for a quick meal. Of course, they aren't as good as toasting whole spices, peeling tomatoes, etc... but hey, dinner is on the table in less than an hour and usually tastes pretty darn good. That said, I'm trying to review all the items I've tried.Kashmiri Veg Birhani - Not as good as fresh homemade (duh). It is a bit oily - at least it is from butter and sunflower oil not palm or trans hydrogenated who-knows-what fats. I added 1/2 cup of leftover rice and it was perfect.IF YOU ARE CILANTROPHOBIC (some people taste soap - it's a genetic thing, don't blame the food: google the NY Times, cilantro, and soap, they have a great article on the details) the cilantro/coriander in this seems to meld with the cloves and cinnamon and MIGHT really freak out your tastebuds. If you don't like fresh salsa made with cilantro, you certainly won't like this.It needs more nuts- but for the price, (less than $2 a box on gold-box and subscription this time) I'm not too grumpy.My only complaint is that 24grams of fat (10 of it sat) for the whole box (two servings) is still way too much for rice and veggies.Would I buy it again? Yup. It is a huge money saver to work lunches. Drop a couple in my desk drawer.

This is a very bold, spicy, savory and balanced paste. For the last five years I've had all of kitchens of India's Curry products and this one was in my opinion their best. It's been discontinued for some time now unfortunately.

Liked the flavor but extremely spicy. Should be marked as "hot" like restaurant food is! Even my husband who likes spicy food more than I do didn't want the leftovers. We gave them away to someone who likes really hot food. Now stuck with the remaining packages.

I love Indian food. Okay, so I love all food! Anyways, one of the biggest problems with living out in the country is that there aren't any good ethnic restaurants nearby. As much as I enjoy a good Indian meal, it just isn't worth driving 30-45 minutes over to Oakley to get one at a decent restaurant. The solution? Make my own at home! I once thought that making Indian at home would be too difficult, but it turns out that it's actually quite easy thanks to Kitchens of India. They make pre-packaged curry pastes that can be used to make make a delicious Indian entree quickly and easily. My favorite is their Butter Chicken Curry Paste, but I've also tried this Kitchens Of India Curry Paste For Vegetable Biryani. The Vegetable Biryani Paste and it is good, but much more spicy than I prefer. I would put it at a 6 or 7 on a 1-10 scale. The flavor is just okay and probably not quite as good as a typical mid-grade Indian restaurant. I has able to make it more palatable by using a lot of veggies and then using plain Greek yogurt to put the heat. That makes it taste much better. I'd still recommend that people unsure about Indian food or trying these curry paste packets for the first time to start with the Kitchens of India Butter Chicken Curry Paste. That one is fantastic and doesn't have to be made with chicken - just make it with tofu and/or other vegetables instead. Enjoy!

Delish! Super easy to use as a base and add more spices or as directed.

I simply cannot make realistic spicy Indian food. I can come close on some things but it's been mostly OK with some failures. Each package has a paste you marinate the vegetables in and a seasoning packet used when you cook them. The seasoning packet contains whole mustard seeds, cardamon, and bay leaves. It is spicy! Just the way I like it.My only gripe is pulling the whole bay leaves out of the food after it's finished.

ITC is a a very well regarded brand name in India.The product itself is good - complex tasting , closer to some of the good restaurant biryani than I can make from scratch.However, my main purpose was to address the lemon curd ingredient in the recipe.In India, yogurt is called curd. and both lemon and yogurt are mixed together and added to the meat / vegetable as a tenderizer.Hence, when you see the lemon curd ingredient, hopefully you don't reach out for the north American sweet lemon curd.Please use Yogurt and lemon juice instead.Thanks.