HOW WE CONDUCTED OUR TASTE TEST
It's free and fair!
We put out a call to readers to be part of the panel of tasters. Forty of them came together on a Saturday morning to taste ready-made curries from leading supermarkets.
The chefs at HTA Culinary School in Randburg, Joburg, prepared the food as per the package instructions. The panel of tasters were presented with each of the products "naked" without any branding or packaging.
Auditor Jade Craig was on hand to monitor the objectivity of the blind-tasting process, from removing the packing to numbering the products, overseeing the preparation as per the package instructions and adding up the scores.
THE RESULTS
FIRST PLACE: Pick n Pay Chicken korma and rice
Price: R59.90 for 350g
Judges's comments:
- Emil: Chicken is soft and tender. Rice is perfect. Just the right amount of sauce.
- Mitha: The best chicken - spicy and tender.
- Donovan: Good flavour and spice, with gentle bite.
- Prinita: Spicy and fragrant but too many coriander seeds in the rice.
- Marcel: Looks appetising, nice and spicy. Chicken is a bit tough . I would definitely buy it.
SECOND PLACE: Woolworths Chicken korma with rice
Price: R54.99 for 350g
Judges's comments:
- Roy: Too salty, and oily at edges as if sauce had split.
- Joyce: Appearance not inviting, chicken pieces too small. It lacks flavour.
- Jenny: Not flavourful, rice a bit clumpy and curry oily.
- Angel: Too salty. Chicken is tender and not dry.
- David: Chicken tender and sauce just thick enough.
- Nomvuyiso: The dish looks very pale but has a pleasant taste of coconut.
THIRD PLACE: Checkers Chicken korma with rice
Price: R39.99 for 300g
Judges's comments:
- Trudie: Sauce is very starchy with hardly any flavour.
- Fiki: Tastes like it came straight from a packet - it is floury and bland.
- David: More like a chicken stew with a thick sauce.
- Thabisile: Texture of sauce is very gooey and soup-like.
- Lindiwe: Looks like a honey-mustard sauce poured over chicken.
- Rebecca: The rice tastes undercooked.
