Instant meals can go sideways too quickly. Unpleasant, industrial and lacking freshness. In the past, a few of them have surprised us with their fresh flavors and textures, but can a paneer based meal do that? 

ITC Kitchens of India presents a ready to eat paneer meal which promises rich, luscious gravy and restaurant-quality flavors. In our ITC Kitchens of India Paneer Darbari review we discuss the taste, texture, freshness of the meal and the type of ingredients used.

A quick glance at all the information you need to know about ITC’s Paneer Darbari – 

What were we looking for? Deliciously rich tomato gravy with soft pieces of paneer. To test the Kitchens of India Paneer Darbari, we set the following parameters – 

1. Taste

When it comes to RTE meals, taste is always the prime parameter. As this is a tomato dominant gravy, we were looking for a tang and creaminess coming from the dairy ingredients. How delicious is this blend of spices? 

2. Texture 

Most creamy paneer dishes we make at home have a smooth texture and a semi-thick gravy. How is the texture of the gravy and paneer? Is the paneer soft or rubbery and hard?

3. Other Parameters

Appearance

How appetizing does the paneer dish look? Is there oil floating on top? How is the paneer to gravy ratio?

Main Ingredients

Tomatoes, cream, paneer and something else? What about additives and preservatives? 

Price

Priced at Rs 170/-, how many people does this serve? Does it prove value for money?

Packaging

Any leakages and puffy packs? How well is the meal packed? 

Shelf Life

This is made using a food processing technology of treating food at a high temperature under extreme high pressure. Keeping that in mind, what is the shelf life of this meal? 

Paneer related reviews – Best RTE Matar Paneer | Keventer Paneer Bites

This section discusses the details of the product, its taste, texture, pros and cons.

Price And Packaging

A 285 gm pack is priced at Rs 170/-. This comes in an attractive yellow colored envelope which holds the sealed pouch containing the paneer and gravy. 

Ingredients

The ingredients used are – Tomatoes (50.7%), Paneer (17.5%), Water, Milk cream (10.3%), Refined sunflower oil, Spices and condiments, White butter (1.6%). Cashew nuts, Khoya, Garlic, Iodised salt and Refined sugar.

There are no preservatives used.

Method Of Heating

The brand has mentioned three methods –

• Frying pan – Cut pouch and empty contents into a frying pan and heat for 3 to 5 mins while stirring. Serve hot. We used this method.
• Microwave – Cut pouch, empty contents into a microwave, heat on high for 1-2 mins and serve hot.
• Hot water immersion – Immerse the foil pouch in boiling water for 3-5 mins. Cut open and serve hot.

Appearance 

This is an orangy-red colored gravy with no extra oil floating on top. The paneer-gravy ratio is drier than usual, i.e there is more paneer and less gravy. The paneer looks very dry and off-colored. It has a brown color instead of white. These are medium-sized, rectangular chunks of paneer.

Aroma

The aroma is primarily tomato-like aroma with hints of dairy.

Taste And Texture 

What went wrong with the texture? The paneer is extremely hard and has a rubbery texture. It’s almost like biting into hardened cubes of soya chunks. The texture of paneer is far from what it should be. 

How does it taste? The gravy has a very nice tomato tang with slightly sweet, milky notes coming from dairy products. Garlic and elaichi take the center stage, taste wise. 

There is nothing rich about the taste of the dish. Even though it has so many rich elements like cashews, milk fat, white butter and khoya.

This is a RTE meal where a lot of things are happening, but nothing seems to work in its favor. Taste and texture collectively decide the freshness, which was very low here. Infact, this tastes slightly industrial. 

It’s surprising because ITC has often done an excellent job of nailing flavors and textures, be it chicken meals or a complicated halwa.

Here are some interesting FAQs on Kitchens of India Paneer Darbari.

Team Mishry gives a thumbs down to ITC Kitchens of India’s Paneer Darbari. The tang of tomatoes and balanced salt levels of the gravy are the only saving grace which seems insignificant when paired with the hard, chewy and off-putting paneer. We do not recommend this at all.

They have better, tastier meals like Chicken Chettinad, Noormahal biryani, Pulao, and Halwas which are worth trying.

From tikkis, to parathas and the many MANY gravies it can be added to – paneer is a versatile ingredient that has been played around with in numerous ways in Indian kitchens. What is your favorite paneer dish? Let us know 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.