Yesterday I ordered lunch from PinStove and instead of the usual PinChefs I go for, I wanted to try other options… So, basically I was set on wanting the Pothichoru and so on searching, I found that the PinChef Sherin Roshin has one which she called as Naatu Pothichoru… So went for that and since I got confused on whether it came with a fish curry or not based on the description, I searched for and found an option of Neymeen curry by PinChef Aishwarya Ajith… Along with the Neymeen curry, her Dal Kichadi caught my eye and got that as well… So, as usual, the delivery arrived on time well packed as shown in the pics below…
So, first lets talk about the Pothichoru… This one is from the PinChef Sherin Roshin and It came as the package shown in the pics below and along with it a small portion of Fish Curry and Mannpayar (Brown Cowpeas) Erissery and a couple of Pappadams… Inside the package, came ofcourse the Chemba Rice and along with it, the Chammanthi, Cabbage Thoran, Vendakka (Okra) Mezhukkupuratty, a piece of Fried Fish and some White Lime Pickle… Compared to the Pothichor options that I have had before, this one had a much smaller portion size and lesser number of items in it, which I guess is justified considering its price which is also lower than the other options… The package indeed looked almost half as big… So, the decision to get the Dal Kichadi did indeed pay off considering my grandmother with whom I was sharing the food… 🙂
Coming to the taste, even though the portion size was small, this turned out to be a good example of quality over quantity as it turned out to be the best tasting Pothichoru that I have ever had… The rice was perfectly cooked… The Cabbage thoran clearly was made fresh with fresh cabbage and was infused with the fragrance of the curry leaves… The Chammanthy also tasted incredibly fresh and unlike the other options, this one had dried red chillies and ginger dominating its taste… I think it worked great with the Cabbage Thoran and rice… The Okra was also nice, even though its a vegetable that I personally dislike because of its texture… I wish rather than as a mezhukkupuratty (as it naturally has enough fat content and so doesn’t need additional to be put in as we do with the mezhukkupuratty), it was a dry roast, kind of like kurkure/crisps which for me the best way to have Okra… The pickle given was clearly the White Lime Pickle, having garlic and birds eye chillies and mustard, which I am guessing is store bought… The Fried fish appeared to have been made with Mackerel and it was cooked perfectly and tasted fresh… I felt it had just the right amount of seasoning with the classic chilly powder and turmeric marinade 🙂 The fish curry appeared to have been made with Tuna Mackerel and had a great flavour of Kashmiri Chillies in it… This fish was slightly overdone for me, but flavours were really good… Finally, the Manpayar Erissery, even though tasted nice, was very thick… So, I felt instead of it, a more liquified curry option may have been provided for the rice… However, flavours were great for me… So, I liked this pothichoru very much and safe to say that I’ll be getting this again… Only complaint is that in the pic on the item’s page in PinStove, there appears an egg omelette in the parcel… That was missing in what I got…
Now coming to the Dal Kichadi… This one is from the PinChef Aishwarya Ajith and it came as a 500ml portion along with a tiny portion each of the Veg Raita and Lime Pickle as shown in the pics below… The Dal Kichadi (or rather Khichdi) is a savoury Rice and Lentills porridge thats made with turmeric and other spices and is typically eaten with pickle and green salad and in some cases with yogurt or raita… Here its the raita containing chopped onions and tomato with coriander leaves and the pickle is the typical brine based spicy Lime pickle… The Dal Kichadi itself appeared to have been made with long grain basmati rice…
Coming to the taste, first of all, I was surprised at how liquified this was as usually the Dal Khichdis that I have seen are of much thicker consistency… However, flavour wise, I felt it was ok and sort of matched the other options that I had had before… It had pieces of tomato and carrots in it along with cumin seeds and coriander leaves… The spices used seems to be that of the typical dal curry as it usually tends to be, ie, a bit of garam masala, turmeric and red chilly powder along with chopped green chilles and ofcourse seasoned with salt… The whole thing was mildly spicy and worked great with the raita and pickle that was given… Altogether a great comfort food fit for any day… 🙂
Finally its the Neymeen Curry… This was again from the PinChef Aishwarya Ajith and its essentially your typical Kerala style fish curry made with Neymmen (Kingfish/Seer Fish)… It came again as a 500ml portion as shown below… The Kerala style fish curry, even though varies with district, is usually made with onions, tomatoes, the typical Turmeric, Chilly Powder and Coriander Powder combination with ground coconut(or coconut milk) and Cocum or raw Mango for the sour component if needed… What I got appears to have been the same…
Taste wise, it is what it is, as in the typical Kerala style fish curry… The fish was cooked absolutely perfectly that it did indeed melt in my mouth… Everything from the coconut to the Kudampuli (Garcinia) used was very visible in its taste and it worked great with the rice from the Pothichoru (as clearly the curry that came with the Pothichoru was not enough for two)… The only complaint I have with this curry is that layer of oil that can be seen at the top, which I think could’ve been reduced… Otherwise its a great curry thats a must try…
So, overall yet another great meal thanks to the home-chefs associated with PinStove… I’m hoping to try even more options in PinStove very soon…
