Mmmmm Chicken Tikka Masala...I'm not one for really hot spicy food, I'm more of a lover of flavour than sitting sweating at the dining table. So, whenever I have Indian food I always opt for the milder options such as tandoori and tikka. I like to try and make meals myself however sometimes I struggle during the week so I cheat a little bit and turn to jars (shhh!) plus it's so much fuss to make your own tikka paste! I have only ever bought one brand of Tikka paste, partly because Patak's is advertised for being so fantastic and partly because a jar lasts me bloomin' ages so I haven't needed to buy another one to try any others out yet!

~ Patak's~
Patak's started as a simple family business in 1925 with the curries being made and delivered by hand door-to-door. Since then it has expanded and employs over 700 people world wide! Patak's make several products including pastes, chutneys, pickles, dips, sauces, breads and pappadums which all make a delicious edition to your Indian style meals!

~ Price & Availability ~
Patak's Tikka paste in available to buy in most major supermarkets. It's available to buy in two different sized jars, 165g for around £1.49 and 300g for around £1.79 (Tesco currently have this size on offer at just £1.00! 05/11/2012). Ok, this is more expensive than your average jar of sauce but this is one of the things I will fork out for, and that says a lot about this product! Plus this is quite a rarity as you can normally just buy tikka masala sauce, not paste!

~ Packaging ~
Patak's tikka paste comes in a clear glass jar with a hot pink and purple label wrapped around it. The label has a paisley design on it to give it a nice Indian theme and feel. The name of the product is on the front of the label as well at the patak's logo. On the back of the label you will find nutritional information, allergy advice, cooking instructions, serving suggestions and storage information. The lid is a safety button lid, which is easy to open and is a pretty metallic purple. It's nice to have this safety button so you know that nobody has stuck their finger in the paste before you use it, if they have the button will be popped up.

~ Cooking ~
You can cook with Patak's tikka paste in several different ways, you can use it with cream or yoghurt to make your own tikka masala sauce (which is what I did) or even as a marinade either on It's own or blended with other ingredients. You could even add it to your favourite dishes to give them an unexpected tikka kick, such as spaghetti bolognaise.

~ Appearance, taste, texture & smell ~
Pataks tikka paste is fairy thick and dark brown in colour with specks of dark red and black. When you open the lid you are hit with a very strong spicy, rich tomatoey smell. I used it to make a tikka masala curry and it produced a smooth, creamy, rich, very flavourful sauce to compliment my chicken. The taste is very mild, which I like, however if you prefer a spicier kick then you would probably need to use more than the recommended amount.

~ Other information ~
Per 100g Patak's tikka paste contains, 121 calories, 3.6g of sugar, 1.35g of salt and 7.8g of fat.

It has 40 % less salt than the recipe used in August 2009.

Allergy advice: Contains mustard may contain traces of peanuts or tree nuts.

Patak's tikka paste is suitable for vegetarians and is free from artificial colours and flavours.

It is important that this product is not consumed uncooked.

~ Overall opinion ~
Patak's tikka paste makes an excellent addition to your curries, essentially it's a healthier option too because instead of buying a pre-made sauce you can control how much cream or yoghurt you use and you have the option to use low fat aswell. I would certainly recommend patak's tikka paste to lovers of flavours rather than spice. In my opinion It's well worth those extra pennies!

I can't award Patak's tikka paste any less than 5 stars! The only teeny weeny complaint I have is the price, but I can't really mark it down for that because I still buy it!