- Which 2in1 recipe mix did you try?
Chicken tikka and mint and cucumber dip
- How would you rate this recipe mix out of 5 (1 being lowest and 5 highest)
1
- What did you/your DCs think of the overall flavour of the product?
ds2 refused to touch any of it, ds1 found the tikka chicken bits too spicy (see explanation below!) and didn't touch the dip, dh enjoyed the chicken bits but didn't like the dip. However making the dish was an unmitigated disaster so take these scores with a pinch of salt (or should that be herbs?)
- How easy, or difficult, did you find the 2in1 mix to use?
I thought I found it quite easy - although as the chicken was marinading I did think that it seemed quite a mild pale tikka marinade... What I actually made was chicken marinaded in a yogurt and mint marinade - I was tired, my mum was there and talking at me, the dc were interrupting so I glanced at the back of the packet, didn't really read the label properly but saw the red label for the tikka marinade and poured it into the yogurt. Wasn't until I undid the other side with the minty green background to the label and saw that it looked remarkably orange and tikka-ish did I realise that I'd gone on the colour of the labels rather than the words - and that you had a minty green label for the tikka section and a tikka orange label for the mint sauce section 
. I know, I know, I should have read it closely but being in a hurry and interrupted that obviously got overlooked! Luckily as the chicken had only just gone into the oven, I yanked it out again and sprinkled tikka spice over some of the chicken (I wanted to taste the mint version too in order to compare). I sprayed with a smidge of light olive oil so the tikka wasn't dry but obviously it's not going to be the same as having been marinaded in it!
When it then came to making the yogurt and mint sauce it meant I didn't have the sachet to put in so had to improvise. I'd already got the cucumber grated, added the yogurt, some chopped spring onion as that's what I had in, a pinch of salt (something I very very rarely add to cooking), some garlic, herbs but no mint as the only minty thing I could find in the house was toothpaste and I didn't fancy that in it! However it did need a hint of sweetness that you'd usually get from the mint so after a bit of hunting in the cupboards, I ended up with marmalade in it. Yes I know it sounds odd but hell, they start with the same letter and it was better than toothpaste. It actually tasted quite nice - but the whole thing was incredibly watery and bubbly - I don't know if we were supposed to drain the cucumber (which was a very juicy one) - as the thick yogurt I used (and the sort of consistency that I think of raita as being) turned very thin and watery as soon as I stirred it all together, and when you then put it on the plate you ended up with a pile of grated cucumber and then a big puddle of pale white watery slop spreading out around it.
- Did you follow the recipe on the back of the packet or did you add/take away any other ingredients?
Tried to follow the recipe but as mentioned above, screwed up by not reading the actual sachet labels and relied on the label colour (the white text on them really didn't stand out very well!). Main deliberate deviation from the recipe was using spring onions instead of a red onion in the raita. The others as above were just because of my screw up!
- Would you say the 2in1 recipe mix made your mealtimes easier at all? If so, why? If not, why not?
Nope - by not spotting my error soon enough, I effectively screwed up the meal as it was supposed to be. On the up side, the mint raita marinaded chicken was very nice and was probably the nicest of the three chicken flavours I have tried using these Schwartz recipes so far! (sorry...) The recipe was nice and a nice reminder, but I'd probably prefer to have a jar of curry paste and throw a spoonful into yogurt to marinade, and make sure I have some dried mint or mint jelly around to add into the raita. I'd know exactly where I was then!
- Do you think you will buy, or look to buy, Schwartz 2in1 recipe mixes in the future? If so, why? If not, why not?
Nice ideas but seem to complicate rather than make life easier. I'm definitely a fan of Schwartz spices but I love your massive catering jars of herbs and spices and using what I need rather than relying on one packet to have it just the way I like it. It would also work out very expensive (especially against the massive jars that sell in costco for a couple of pounds or so)
- Overall, would you say you loved the 2in1 recipe mix, you liked it or you hated it?
Not really fair to grade it having screwed it up - hated it for making what should have been easy into an unmitigated disaster. Suspect it would have been better if I'd done it right - and if the instructions had mentioned about draining and drying off the cucumber first!