In the search to find edible microwave meals for work, I again trawled the shelves at Tesco. this time I thought I would try the Light choices Chicken Korma and rice (the photograph above is Healthy Living package which I believe is the forerunner of the Light choices) Before I start I'd better make it clear that I'm not a curry expert, but I do enjoy a curry occasionally.

The packet tells me this is pieces of chicken breast in a mild sauce made with low fat yogurt served with basmati rice. The photograph on the packet is of a dish of rice with heaps of chicken on top, a nice golden colour. When you slide the dish out of the packet it is in two sections, the rice in one section, the chicken and sauce in the other.

The instructions say for best results heat in a microwave oven. As we only have a microwave at work, I was pleased to see that. It tells you to pierce the lid several times, and to cook on full power for 3 minutes in a 850 watt oven ( times vary for different wattages) then you take the film off the rice stir in a teablespoon of water, then recover and continue to heat for a further tow minutes. I followed the instructions religiously.

The meal can be cooked in the oven , gas mark 5, 190c for 20-25 minutes, but I used the microwave.

I tipped the meal onto a plate and was pleasantly surprised to see the amount of rice, it was a reasonable portion, not huge, but quite good for thse type of meals. I was surprised to see spices in amongst the rice, as the packet had said basmati rice, but on closer inspection the ingredient list mentioned Pilau rice. I quite like Pilau rice so that wasn't a problem. I then turned my attention to the chicken and sauce. There were 8 small pieces of chicken in a very unappetising looking mustard yellow watery sauce, but altogether with the rice, it looked an adequate portion.

All through the cooking there had been a strong aroma of curry, which seemed somewhat strange for a Korma, as it usually smells sweeter, and different from a regular curry, but it didn't smell too bad, so I took a forkful. It was awful. I understood korma to be a gentle mild combination of flavours, one of the main ones being coconut. This was mild, in fact so mild it had no flavour at all, not the chicken or the onions or anything else, much less any coconut. All that I could taste was the hot spicy aftertaste. I don't ask for much in microwave meals, edible will do, but I'm afraid this one came close to being inedible. I certainly won't be buying this one again, not recommended

nutrition Information per pack
calories 495 calories
protein 32.3g
carbohydrates 71.9g
fat 8.9g
salt equivalent trace