Anyways, despite the name of this particular product being Trader Joe's Aloo Chaat Kati Pouches, I will refer to them the rest of this post as being Trader Joe's Indian Hot Pockets, because you cannot tell me that they're not. They even come with crisping sleeves. They even call them "crisping sleeves." This is a Hot Pocket, through and through.
And, in stark contrast to most of our TJ's Indian food experiences whether current or past, they're a major disappointment. Chief reason: Look at the picture on the box. Looks like crispy, buttery, samosa-inspired crusty-carb incarnation. Then look at this picture, taken of my Indian Hot Pocket, after a few strategically placed bites:
Looks nothing alike. Furthermore, this particular crust? Uggggggggh. What comes to mind is stale Chuck E Cheese pizza crust flattened via steamroller. It's tough and chewy and not even remotely crusty. It's nasty. Granted, it could be better if baked, but I'm not going to eat these at home where I'm trying my best to eat meals without barcodes.
The rest of the filling is okay, I guess. To be honest, I wasn't much of a fan. Between my two IHPs there were about three discernible chickpeas, a whole bunch of mush, some typical Indian spices, nothing that really said "chaat masala" or "tamarind chutney" to me, and whole bunch of big ol' chunks of onions. Now, I like onions, quite a bit actually, but there were too many of them and too little of the other stuff. It was enough that my breath literally and tangibly felt funny until I could come home and brush. Plenty hearty and filling, though. It wasn't enough to dissuade me from being interested in an aloo chaat dish the next time I go to an Indian restaurant, especially if they look something like this, but I won't be running back to these, especially after gandering at the nutritional info. Forgive the Frankenstein Photoshop job, it's been years since I've messed with it.
Wisely, Sandy avoided these. Sometimes she misses something great, but other times she's absolutely right. I cannot even imagine her reaction if she tried one of these, but if the uncrusty crust wouldn't turn her off completely, the filling would. Fortunately, I made a call to the bullpen, and one of our Facebook fans, Martha, gave us a pretty complete rundown, which I'll copy here in its entirety: "I have tried them. The filling is delicious (and vegetarian, for the person who was asking). The crust, however, leaves a bit to be desired. I wanted the pastry to be delicate and buttery like a samosa, because that's how it looks on the box, but it's actually more like the crust on a hot pocket. If it had a better crust it would be an 8 or 9, but I have to give it a 5. Too bad." So I read that as her giving it a 2.5. That's more generosity than I can spare. There's just not that much good I can say here.
Bottom line: Trader Joe's Indian Hot Pockets...err, Aloo Chaat Kati Pouches: 3.5 out of 10 Golden Spoons
Ack! Disappointing as I just picked some up and have them sitting in my freezer. Maybe I'll try baking them instead.
ReplyDeleteSo based on your review (and my needing a quick-ish lunch), I microwaved it in the sleeve for one minute and finished cooking in the toaster oven (without the sleeve--for about 7 mins). I had some plum chutney in the fridge so I ate it with that. I thought it was pretty good this way. Certainly much better than a hot pocket, but not nearly as good as a real Kathi roll.
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ReplyDeleteI love your blog and usually buy stuff (or not) based on your comments. However, this time I got these a few weeks before your post. I baked one IHP in a toaster and the other in a conventional oven and they were both great. I am Indian so I usually judge TJ's Indian fare a bit more harshly but these were great! I had tamarind chutney on hand so maybe that made a difference also. At $2.29 per box I will buy more.
ReplyDeleteI picked these up and they weren't bad. I had very low expectations, so that helped I'm sure. I baked ours in the oven (we don't own a microwave) and they were nice and crisp. The onion was off-putting as I'm not a fan of onions, but my husband thought they were awesome.
ReplyDeleteThe frozen garlic naan from TJ's is sooooooooo good too.
Oh, I hate it that your review pops up when I google Trader Joe's Aloo Chaat Kati Pouches. This was one of the best TJ items I ever had. We used a microwave and then we finished it off in the oven. The pouches were crispy, tasty, and delicious. I feel like you should re-review this product to do it justice.
ReplyDeleteI thought these were great as well. Perhaps you were expecting a hot pocket like consistency/exterior. I thought the wrap was similar to a kathi roll flaky bread. I read your review first and was dreading giving it a shot since I already bought it. They were amazing. not as nice as the real kathi rolls available in some restaurants but for the price and convenience it was amazing. I too microwaved and then used the toaster over for the last few minutes.
ReplyDeleteI just had one for lunch. It wasn't bad at all. I think it could have been crispy but as it was a frozen food my expectations of that was low. However my pocket did not look like your at all. The one I just had looked a lot closer to the box picture.
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