ITC Kitchens Of India Chicken Chettinad Review – Mishry

The complex heat sourced from red chillies and black pepper, the flavor of coconut and curry leaves in each bite. Chettinad cuisine is best described as an explosion of flavors.

ITC presents a RTE Chicken Chettinad from its Dakshin Cuisine. Our ITC Kitchens of India Chicken Chettinad review is based upon three vital factors – authenticity of flavors, texture and freshness of the meal. How does this ready-to-eat meal perform in our taste test? Read on for details. 

A quick look at all the details of this RTE meal by ITC Kitchens of India – 

What were we looking for? RTE meals are notoriously popular for their industrial flavors and rubbery texture. We were looking for a fresh-tasting, delicious, well-balanced Chettinad style chicken dish. 

To test the Kitchens of India Chicken Chettinad, we set the following parameters – 

1. Flavor and Aroma

Guntur chillies, kalpasi (stone flower) and Indian shallots along with black pepper, coconut and curry leaves are the ingredients that come to mind when you think of Chettinad Curry. Taste and aroma, together govern how flavorful this dish ends up being.

From the pepper-chilli heat, to the sweet tasting coconut meat and flavor of chicken – how tasty is this dish? How appetizing does this smell? 

2. Texture 

Tender chicken chunks, slightly grainy masala with the coarseness of coconut and bits of curry leaves and peppercorns. We were looking for well-coated pieces of chicken in a latpata masala (semi-dry gravy that coats the chicken).

Taste and texture, collectively, define freshness and quality as well. 

3. Other Parameters

Appearance

Oily, dry or just right? How appealing is the appearance? 

Main ingredients

Does it have ingredients that define Chettinad cuisine? Clean list of ingredients or lots of additives and preservatives? 

Price

For Rs 230, does this prove to be value for money? 

Packaging

How well are these packed? Any leakages? 

Shelf Life

Once opened, how long can you consume it for? If unopened what is the shelf life of this product?

Related Reading – ITC frozen foods we have reviewed

Price and packaging

A 285 gm pack is priced at Rs 230/-. It comes in a yellow outer pack with 

Ingredients

The main ingredients include chicken (33.6%), Spices and condiments (22.9%), Water, Tomatoes, Fresh coconuts, Refined sunflower oil, Iodized salt, Refined coconut oil, Cashew nuts, Lemon juice. 

Under spices and condiments this contains onion, garlic, ginger, black pepper, coriander, poppy seeds, green coriander leaves, curry leaves, fennel, turmeric, chilli, cumin, mace, cardamom, clove, cinnamon, star anise and nutmeg.

This has no preservatives, colors or additives. We like the use of good quality cooking oils like sunflower and coconut. 

Method of heating

The brand specifies three methods of heating the meal – on a gas top, in a microwave and hot water immersion. We used the first method.

In a pan we heated emptied the contents of the pack and heated it for 5 minutes while stirring.

Appearance

No extra oil is floating on top. The masala looks coarse, semi-dry and coats the boneless pieces of chicken very nicely. 

Taste test

The aroma, while we were heating this, was primarily of khada masalas. 

The texture of chicken is commendable, considering this is a ready to eat meal. These bite-sized chunks of chicken taste and feel fresh. They aren’t rubbery, hard or chewy. We like how well the chicken has absorbed all the flavors. The masala is semi-dry, coarse and coats all the chicken pieces well. 

This has medium to high spiciness, like how Chettinad curries are supposed to be. The heat is not unidimensional, it’s coming from black pepper and all the whole spices added in the masala. 

The curry leaves look and taste fresh as well. The coconut flesh along with a mix of spices seems well-roasted and helps this dish inch closer to the authentic Chettinad flavors. Apt salt levels, the natural sweetness of onions combined with ginger and garlic is superb. 

No industrial/artificial taste or aroma. It was as good as eating a bowl of homemade chicken curry with Southern flavors.

Here are some interesting FAQs on Kitchens of India Chicken Chettinad.

WOW! We fell in love with the fresh, clean flavors of this ready-to-eat chicken Chettinad by ITC. The balance of spices, flavor of coconut and tender pieces of chicken make this all worth a try. 

You can eat it with appams, Malabar parottas, and rice. 

Do you enjoy Chettinad cuisine? Tell us about your favorite dish in the comment section below.

Our reviews are unbiased and all samples used during the reviews were paid for by us. Read our entire ethics statement here.