Marks & Spencer Big Dish Chicken Tikka Biryani

When I was younger I used to be a major fan of M&S Foods. Then the supermarkets started to catch up and M&S no longer seemed quite a good investment or a hassle to visit, as it was virtually impossible to do a full weeks shopping.

However, a few weeks ago, Tasha and I were trying to seek out a very nice and fattening dessert that they produce containing syrup, sponge, custard and cream and of course I couldn’t go in without waiting ...
...I stumbled across the BIG DISH Chicken Tikka Biryani described as:

“Tender pieces of chicken tikka breast in a rich creamy curry sauce with friend onions and an aromatic basmati rice”

Priced at £3.49, substantially cheaper than the norm at my local Indian Restaurant, where the same dish would set me back around £7.00, I decided it was too good an opportunity to miss.

THE PACKING
In typical ready ... more

When I was younger I used to be a major fan of M&S Foods. Then the supermarkets started to catch up and M&S no longer seemed quite a good investment or a hassle to visit, as it was virtually impossible to do a full weeks shopping.

However, a few weeks ago, Tasha and I were trying to seek out a very nice and fattening dessert that they produce containing syrup, sponge, custard and cream and of course I couldn’t go in without waiting to see what other goodies they had in tow, when I stumbled across the BIG DISH Chicken Tikka Biryani described as:

“Tender pieces of chicken tikka breast in a rich creamy curry sauce with friend onions and an aromatic basmati rice”

Priced at £3.49, substantially cheaper than the norm at my local Indian Restaurant, where the same dish would set me back around £7.00, I decided it was too good an opportunity to miss.

THE PACKING
In typical ready meal style, the meal is contained in a plastic container with a pleasant purple cardboard container with a nicely presented Chicken Tikka Biryani on the front – first tip, it doesn’t look anything like it does on the cover.

TO COOK:
As per many of these dishes, it can be cooked in either a microwave or oven, being the old fashioned type who still cannot get her head around placing plastic in a hot oven, I opted for the microwave way.

TO MICROWAVE:
Don’t forget to remove the cardboard wrapper and pierce the film a few times, otherwise you will spend the next week picking bits out of your microwave!

Category B (650W) – 5-1/2 minutes
Category D (750W) – 4-1/2 minutes

After 3/2-1/2 mins respectively, peel back film and stir thoroughly then cook for the remainder of the time (I told you it wouldn’t look like is does on the pack)

The meal should be left to stand for 1 minute before serving – ensure it is hot throughout.

Didn’t cater for my Category E power muncher (this does seem to be quite rare these days as food manufacturers pick up on the fact that most of us have moved on – but well it is M&S famed for not listening to their customers and the market place) Incidentally I still cooked it for extra time.

TO OVEN COOK
190oC/375oF/Gas Mark 5 for 20 mins – if you have a fan-assisted oven reduce temperature to 165oC – presumably fan assisted ovens don’t record Fahrenheit temperatures. – Stir gently before serving.

Why the difference in how you stir it depending on where its cooked, goodness only knows – maybe its because the plastic will fall apart with the oven method!

SUITABLE FOR HOME FREEZING
Freeze on day of purchase and use within one month –don’t do what I normally do and forget about anything I put in the freezer. It cannot be cooked from frozen and should be defrosted thoroughly.

THE MOMENT YOU HAVE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR
The Calories – sorry Offy but we didn’t expect something like to be low did you? And after reading Anna’s op last night I am not going to worry about looking like 2 ton Tess for the meet J.

o This 450g pack contains a whopping 810Kcals
o 37.4g of Protein
o 82.8g of Carbohydrate (5.0g of which are sugars)
o 35.6g of Fat (9.9g of which are saturates)
o 2.3g of Fibre
o 2.03g of Sodium
o 5.g of Salt

Ouch on the latter note, I must admit since I have been writing food ops on Ciao, I have been stunned at the high level of salt in some of these meals – did you know that a 150g pack of Tesco’s salted Pistachio nuts contains less than 2g of salt – this is certainly something I am going to have to take more of a careful watch on since being diagnosed with marginally high blood pressure.

INGREDIENTS
Cooked Rice, Chicken, Yogurt, Water, Coriander, Tomato Puree, Ginger, Lime Juice, Onion, Vegetable Oil, Butter, Cream, Milk, Lemon Juice, Salt, Garlic, Maize, Starch, Spices, Red Chilli, Green Chilli, Coriander, Pepper.

WARNING: The pack does contain a warning I have never seen before: CONTAINS COWS MILK (maybe that’s why my skin has been bad this week.

THE VERDICT:
Well according to the pack, you can safely eat two of these a day without exceeding a weight stabilisation diet of 2000 calories (ladies) although you will exceed your fat content recommendation. Amazing what you can learn from a ready meal packet!

The first time I had this, I fell in love, the chicken was mildly spiced and very tender, the rice firm to the point of being crunchy, the sauce creamy and very Moorish, the fried onions were absolutely delectable and this was the closest a meal had become to what my friends used to describe as a food sexual experience, absolute heaven, I could taste it for hours afterwards and was just desperate for the next time I could make my way to an M&S Store.

Well last week I did, it may have been something to do with being told I would get £30’s worth of M&S vouchers for changing my home and buildings insurance provider (still waiting for these), but it cast my mind back to this wonderful meal I had. An early morning 3-1/2 lecture Saturday morning saw me back in M&S looking looking for this – yippee the last one in the shop.

The anticipation of waiting to eat it Sunday evening was overwhelming I literally couldn’t wait, but I was very good and I did wait, and after cooking and serving it with a Naan bread that Tasha managed to make light work of, I wished I hadn’t bothered.

The rice was soggy, there meal was very watery including the sauce, the onions were non-existent, although the chicken was still very tender, the bits I could find that was, overall a very disappointing experience, and proof that true love is never quite the same the second time around.

What did surprise me is that I thought M&S had a very strict quality control procedures that left little distinction between a product on every occasion, my dreams have been shattered and from now on I will stick to the Sainsburys version which is the same price, much spicier, never soggy and very tasty.

THE PRICE
£3.49 and the pack clearly defines that it is for one person, so you MUSN’T share – last Sunday I couldn’t give it away

I won’t be buying it again – anyone want £30 of M&S vouchers – wish I’d plumped for Sainsburys now – and M&S didn’t even have those delectable desserts which was the very reason I went in there – although after my experience with this, maybe it is just as well.

I will say recommended, but if you do try it hope you get lucky, inconsistency seems to be a big problem.

 

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