I have mentioned before about how I like having instant noodles, especially the ones from Nissin and even had written about a couple of their products as well… Turns out, my recent couple of trips to the supermarket ended up with me finding a few more products of Nissin Cup Noodles that peaked my interest and so thought I’ll try and make a post about them and here we are 🙂
So, lets talk about the Malai Kofta Cup Noodles first… The Malai Kofta, as you may know, if you follow Indian Cuisine is a very popular vegetarian dish thats said to have originated in India during the Mughal rule and is even rumoured to have been created to serve to the vegetarian hindu wife of Emperor Akbar, though as of now, no concrete proof has been discovered to back this claim… However, the dish is considered to be part of the Mughlai Cuisine and is usually made during celebrations cause of its use of rich ingredients like Dried Fruits / Nuts, Heavy Cream, Ghee, Cardamom and Saffron… The Kofta balls are typically made by mashing Paneer and Potato together along with spices and herbs and the gravy is typically made from a ground Cashew and Almond with Cream base… So, how does something so rich and decadent translate to the Ramen world is what I felt curious about when I saw this in the store shelf… Turns out they made a creamy broth which had elements of the Malai Kofta gravy in it’s flavour profile, especially the fragrance of Ghee and Saffron… As for the Kofta Balls, they turned out to taste more like Hariyali Kebabs than how the typical Kofta Balls used in Malai Kofta tastes like, as I couldn’t taste the Paneer at all and instead the herbs and spices seemed to take the lead… However, I did end up liking the product overall and I feel it would be an interesting fusion meal for any foodie…
Next up is another vegetarian product of Nissin thats inspired from the Indian Cuisine and its called the Paneer Cup Noodles based on the famous Paneer Butter Masala… Said to have been invented by the Moti Mahal Restaurant who also is said to have invented Butter Chicken, as the option for vegetarians, the Paneer Butter Masala is a dish thats one of the most popular among Indians, especially those who love to eat Paneer… As the name suggests, Butter is the key ingredient and the dish typically uses a very generous portion of it along with a spicy and creamy Tomato based gravy… So, here that seems to have gotten translated to a creamy broth made with Tomatoes and Butter and of-course the spices and herbs… I could feel the taste of the elements of both the Makhni gravy like the Butter, Tomato, Onion, Cream, Cardamom, Cinnamon, etc… I must say, the Paneer used in this was so good that if you serve it to me and tell me that its made with fresh paneer, I wouldn’t have any difficulty believing it cause both the taste and texture was perfect… Overall, loved this one and it made me wish Nissin sold the Butter Chicken Cup Noodles here too… But sadly, they aren’t doing that in India as of now… Hopefully soon 🙂
Next, lets talk about the non-vegetarian products… This particular product is one which I saw only recently for the very first time and what you see here is the very first one I had too… Its the Scrambled Egg Cup Noodles, which surprisingly is again, based on Indian Cuisine and based on the quintessential Egg Masala… To be frank, when I saw this at the store shelf, I was very skeptical cause my understanding is that Egg is best to be used fresh as it gets rotten very fast and we all know whats the good temperature to cook it too… So, I was wondering how it would work in the context of instant noodles like this… Anyways, decided to take one for science and here we are… Basically, my hunch was right, it was not pleasant to eat the pieces of egg in this one and no they were not rotten but the problem is that the dehydration process basically damaged the texture and so, even though they taste like egg, it doesn’t feel like you are chewing on scrambled eggs… Otherwise, coming to the taste of the overall product, essentially what this reminded me of is the “Andewala Maggi” sold in many of the street food stalls in many places across North India… But ofcourse better cause of the use of better noodles in this one… Essentially, this felt like a mix of a Spicy Egg Bhurji with Noodles… The broth had the taste of Egg yolk throughout along with the typical Garam Masala used for Egg Curries and felt quite rich… I think a good idea would be to remove the existing dried pieces of egg add fresh Scrambled eggs or chopped boiled eggs to it and mix while eating… 🙂
Last but not the least for this post is the Spiced Chicken Cup Noodles… This is so far my favourite product of Nissin that I always have a few in stock at home for having whenever I crave for some noodles… This is essentially similar to Nissin’s original Chicken Cup Noodles but made to be spicy and with chunks of Chicken in it, though I am skeptical about it being 100% real chicken… This one as the name says is spicy with quite a significant flavour and heat from Chillies along with the typical Nissin’s Chicken Curry (Japanese) broth… As you can see from the pics below, there are some vegetables too which include, Carrots, Green Beans and Cabbage and Spring Onions and you can feel the flavours of them all as you eat the noodles… But its the flavour of the Chillies that stand out from the rest… I typically add some extra boiling water beyond what the instructions say so that the spice levels are a bit diluted for me and one thing I noted with this product is that unlike similar products from other manufacturers, adding the extra water don’t make the noodles go bland… In fact in all the products of Nissin that I have tried so far, the noodles by itself have always been quite flavourful and this is basically why Nissin has remained as my favourite brand to go for instant noodles and I can say that this Spiced Chicken Cup Noodles is a must try if you haven’t yet…
So, thats it… these are few of the instant noodles options that I recommend for those who like to have noodles… Instant noodles always have had a bad rep as something thats unhealthy but the fact remains is that how you eat is what decides whether a food item in healthy or unhealthy and when it comes to these instant noodles, of-course, I wouldn’t recommend anyone to keep eating them all the time but I don’t think there is any harm in having them once in a while to satisfy a craving… Feel free to check them out and let me know in the comment section below…
P. S. I had previously posted about Nissin’s Rich Seafood Curry Cup Noodles and Zesty Keema Cup Noodles… Feel free to check them out too if you haven’t 🙂
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