Jyoti Natural Foods

In a quest to do more easy eating at home, I started experimenting with some pantry friendly prepared foods.  Nothing that required refrigeration or a freezer, just things I could stash and pull out when I needed some inspiration.  

Since I love indian cuisine, this seemed like a more interesting place to start than say, soups, beans, or pasta and sauce, which I'll admit are what first came to mind.

I researched all sorts of options, ranging from frozen dishes, to full meals that somehow require no refrigeration, to starter curry sauces and pastes.  Most of the frozen ones, while obviously the easiest, were pretty nasty (besides those from Trader Joe's, they really are shockingly good, some are even spicy!).  The shelf stable bagged pouches, besides looking a bit scary, mostly featured lentils or beans, so not my thing.  The sauces, chutneys, and pastes can be good, but require some extra work. 

And then, a friend recommended Jyoti products to me.  Jyoti makes several product lines, including fully cooked beans, rice, simmer sauces, and, the products I was most interested in: Heat and Serve cans.  

"We chose ‘shelf stable foods in cans’ to present the exotic foods of India to the customers through specialty foods shops and supermarkets. "

These items fall somewhere in between a full dish and a starter sauce.  You can mostly use them as is, heated and dumped over some rice or with some naan if you are lazy.  Or, you can spruce them up, and the packaging contains suggestions on many directions you can take the dishes.  The idea really is very accessible indian cuisine.

The offerings are all vegetarian, and your basic dal, channa, sambar, and saag are of course available, along with matar paneer and even jaipur karhi, potato dumplings.  The idea of canned paneer definitely weirded me out, but, hey, I wanted easy, right?

The products clearly aren't restaurant quality food, but overall, I was fairly impressed.  For a canned good, they certainly beat Chef Boyardee :)  You can find them at Whole Foods, on Amazon, etc.

Jaipur Karhi: Organic Potato Dumplings in Spicy Buttermilk Sauce.

"Add some water, heat and serve as a soup, or serve on top of rice or pasta as a sauce with potato dumplings instead of meatballs. Rice and Karhi is a popular Sunday lunch in northern India."

The first item I tried was the fascinating sounding potato dumplings.

I actually quite liked this. 

The sauce was a little strange at first, but the flavor grew on me.  Decently complex.  Creamy.  The potato “dumplings” were basically just potatoes, although a bit mushy, like mashed potato balls. Not bad exactly, just not quite what I expected. 

The entire thing however was just better than expected.  I would eat it again. I had it over rice, with some mango chutney and cilantro chutney mixed in. They also recommend mixing it with water to form a soup, or adding tomato, or adding other veggies. I could see any of those things working pretty well.

***+.  

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Delhi Saag: Spinach and Mustard Greens.

"Delhi Saag is a greens dish served as a vegetable side dish, as a cooking sauce, soup base or on pasta. The natural taste of spinach and mustard greens is enhanced with ginger, hot peppers, and lemon juice. No spices are added."

Next up, the saag.

This was interesting. I wasn't sure what to expect from canned greens. They were better than I expected, not too mushy, and fairly flavorful. But the flavor was just the greens themselves, there wasn't much else going on in the spicing. You definitely needed to add seasonings to it.

On my first try, I added roasted mushrooms, which worked well, some leftover gnocchi (random, I know, but I had gnocchi, and I thought it was kinda like potatoes, and potatoes and saag go together ...), some red pepper flakes to give it some heat, and a few scoops of cottage cheese (ok, more random, but it needed a creaminess and it was the best I could do given the contents of my fridge).  It wasn't bad exactly, but it wasn't quite good. 

On my second try, I again added roasted mushrooms, but also added cauliflower, potatoes, and peas, and left out the gnocchi.  Every one of these veggies worked really well with the saag.  I also added curry powder, onion powder, coconut flakes, and red pepper flakes to kick up the spices.  And I decided to go with the cottage cheese again, but added it at the last minute, so it didn't melt in as much.  I served it over some leftover farro.  I'm sure this is not how it was intended to be served, but I really enjoyed it, and would make this again in a heartbeat!

***+.

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Matar Paneer: Peas & Paneer Cheese. 

"Jyoti Matar-Paneer is a vegetable dish made with sweet green peas and Indian paneer cheese in a tomato, onion sauce."

After the success of the others, I took a plunge and went for the canned paneer, in the form of matar paneer.

Ok, this one I really, really did not like. 

The peas were mushy.  The entire thing was strangely sweet.  The paneer was actually decent, flavorful and a good texture. But ugh, I couldn't get past the overall flavor. Would not eat again.

**.

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Ambrosia Desserts

British desserts.  Not exactly what I gravitate towards, besides, uh, sticky toffee pudding (zomg, <3).  But a while back, when I was in London, I picked up a number of canned items for my pantry, including a nice haul from Ambrosia, mostly because I really adore puddings, and they seem to carry many.

"For 100 years, the rolling hills of Devon have been home to Ambrosia's creamery. We let nature do the talking and ensure happiness is poured into everything we do so you can enjoy Ambrosia's delicious Devon creaminess."

Ambrosia is a well known maker of food products from the UK, mostly using dairy from their creamery.  All very shelf-stable, pantry items, no frills. They've been around more than 100 years, so they must be doing something right?

''A day in Devon is a day well lived, and a passion for our home is poured into everything we do. From the first beads of morning dew glistening on the lush grass, the chattering streams running between the rolling hillsides, and the misty sunsets over the quiet farms, it's Ambrosia's home. At our Devon creamery, we let nature do the talking. It's what makes Ambrosias special. We put all our love into creating delicious puddings to satisfy your whole family''

My British friend said their products are the sort of thing your grandmother would serve.  Not something that anyone our age would ever seek out.  I realize they are generic, and sold everywhere.  But, uh, I liked some of their products!

Transformed canned desserts!

I've tried a number of the products, and none are remarkable right out of the can (or box), but with a little transformation, they do become decently successful, and quite easy.  

Original Devon Rice Pudding.

"Enjoy the sweet deliciousness of Ambrosia Devon Rice Pudding. This product is rich in dairy goodness and is specially made with fresh milk. This Ambrosia rice pudding is a wonderful source of calcium and is vegetarian."

Rice pudding, also known as "creamed rice".  I do really like rice pudding but ...

Yes, I was skeptical, as this was coming out of a can after all.  And the British aren't exactly known for their culinary delights ...

The can instructed me that I could eat it hot or cold.  Since cold wasn't an option unless I wanted to wait for it to cool down from room temperature, I went the hot route.  I warmed it up on the stovetop, but snuck a few bites before it came up to temperature.  It wasn't remarkable.  There wasn't much flavor to it, but the rice was cooked really nicely at least.  Far better than the rice pudding I get at many restaurants actually, where the rice is often kinda mushy.

As I waited for it to get warm, I decided to jazz it up a bit, and mixed in a pinch of cinnamon.  Then I pulled some frozen blueberries out of the freezer and threw them on top.  The result? DELICIOUS.  It was a really great consistency, not too runny, not too thick, just right.  And as I mentioned, the rice was perfectly cooked, not crunchy, not mushy, just right.

Since I didn't eat the entire can in one sitting, I put the rest in the fridge, and tried it cold the next day.  It wasn't very good, kinda goopy, and not very flavorful.  So I heated it up, this time in the toaster oven, again added cinnamon and blueberries, but this time also some toasted coconut and pecans.  The coconut wasn't really necessary, but I liked the added crunch from the nuts.

Right out the jar it was fairly lackluster, but it is a great base for adding a few toppings and enjoying easy delicious rice pudding.  Who knew?

Light Rice Pudding: Single Serve.

"Creamy & delicious, Less than 2% fat, A source of calcium, Full of dairy goodness, 35% les fat than Ambrosia rice pudding."

Next I tried the light rice pudding, available in a single serve plastic container.  As before, I took a bite at room temperature, and it just wasn't very good.  The flavor was virtually nonexistent and it was kinda just gloopy.  It wasn't thick or creamy.

So, as before, I heated it up, in the toaster oven rather than microwave as advised.

It was better when warm, but still not very interesting.  So again, I jazzed it up ...

Light Rice Pudding + Whipped Cream + Rum Caramel + Maple Bacon Caramel Corn.

What did I add?

Well, a dollop of whipped cream to start, because, the light nature of this just meant it didn't have enough creaminess.  The whipped cream melted in instantly as the rice pudding was piping hot, and it created a pool of richness right in the center, delicious to keep slightly separate, or to mix in.

In the center of that I added a scoop of rum caramel sauce.  Now this was likely the element that transformed the rice pudding entirely.  Sweet and boozy, and it added flavor to every single bite, particularly as it mixed in more.

And finally, a sprinkle of the leftover bits of a bag of maple bacon caramel corn.  This was also awesome, as it added some bits of crunch and saltiness.

I really loved my creation.  It was warm and comforting, sweet and salty.  But ... at this point, I'm mostly just evaluating my toppings, not the original product itself.

Thus, I say, it is a great base for making a fun dessert?  The rice pudding pot itself was only 95 calories, actually a nice light option, but, uh, whipped cream, caramel sauce, and bacon caramel corn likely at least doubled that ... gulp.  I'm not good at "light".

Light Devon Custard.

Next up, custard.  Not pudding, but, custard.

I'm not sure when, but somewhere along the way I picked up a little individual pot of the devon custard.  I'm sure I had plans at the time of making a trifle, or using it as a sauce on top of sticky pudding, or who knows what, but I eventually found it in my pantry, and decided to just eat it, even though I knew that the custard isn't really like American pudding, and you weren't generally supposed to just eat it plain.

I took one bite.  Meh.  As expected, it wasn't thick like pudding.  The flavor was very, very plain.  Slightly sweet I suppose, but rather synthetic.  At least it was very smooth?

Undeterred, I heated some up.  I liked it more warm, but it was still boring.  I pressed on.

I added a little vanilla extract to one little bowl full.  Better, but still, not interesting.  I added some caramel to another.  Sweet now for sure, but still not doing it for me.  I added large salt flecks to make salted caramel.  Still not interesting.

I warmed up strawberries and raspberries, and poured it over them.  Sure, a fine combination, but it didn't do it for me either.

My final attempt was to top it with whipped cream.  The whipped cream quickly melted as the custard was hot, and it pooled up on top.  And ... yeah, I really liked it.

Anyway, I enjoyed experimenting and trying to make something of it, but in the future, I'd stick to using it more as intended, to pour over another dessert, rather than as a base for a creation.

Deluxe Custard: Vanilla with Clotted Cream.

"The new Deluxe range from Ambrosia is our creamiest, most luxurious velvety custard. This is because we made it using fresh cream and blended it with the finest ingredients to create mouth-watering flavours. Ambrosia Deluxe is so delicious, you won't be able to resist. Just dive straight in and enjoy the heavenly taste, hot or cold!"

Next, a more premium product, a "deluxe custard".  These came in boxes, not cans.  So fancy?

The can was strange, but a box was a bit harder for me to wrap my head around.  I was again skeptical. Still, um, "Deluxe" and with extra clotted cream?  Who was I to pass this up.

The large box has 4-5 servings in it, but is hard to save once opened, since, well, its a box.

Deluxe Custard: Vanilla with Clotted Cream: Room Temp.

I tried it straight from the box, room temp.  It wasn't bad.  Not an amazing vanilla flavor, but really perfectly creamy, great consistency.

Then I put it in the fridge, and had some cold.  That was even better, a bit more firm.

Then I heated it up.  It thinned out.  I liked it less this way.

Deluxe Custard: Vanilla with Clotted Cream: With Toppings!

And then of course I started adding toppings, as it was good, but a bit plain on its own.

It went amazingly with the crispy caramel pearls.  It worked well with fruit, and I know many people simply serve it over fruit as a dessert.  I read online that people like mixing in a scoop of peanut butter, which I tried, but did not like.

Overall, very successful for a boxed product, best when cold, best when jazzed up a bit, but still perfectly satisfying right from the box.

Canned Semolina.

Last up was the semolina, back to a canned form.

"Fresh" From the Can.

I can't say it looked appealing. And, at room temp, it was not exactly tasty, just kinda bland, gloopy ... stuff.  Still, I know these products do better warmed up, or, actually chilled, not room temp.

Like the others, it said it could be heated in a saucepan or a microwave.  I had just finished cooking dinner and hadn't yet cleaned up the saucepans, so I just grabbed a little non-stick skillet, and hoped it would do the trick.  Seemed better than microwaving at least, right?

While it heated slowly, I got to work assembling toppings, as it was immediately obvious that this would need toppings.

I did try it plain, warmed, of course, and that was better than room temperature, but only barely.  It needed help.  So help I gave it.

Semolina Pudding: Brown Butter Caramel / White Chocolate Shavings / Butter Pecan Sauce / Caramel Corn / Whipped Cream / Bourbon Smoked Sea Salt

I had too many ideas.  Did I want to go fruity with fresh fruit? Frozen fruit for a hot/cold contrast?  Jam?  Or did I want to go really sweet, with caramel or white chocolate?  Or Greek style with honey and nuts?  Speaking of nuts, I needed some crunch right?  What about toasted coconut?  Or, hmm, cinnamon and dried fruit, more healthy?  So many options.

In the end, I went for a mix of everything.  I was incredibly pleased with the end result.  So much for a healthy little bowl of semolina pudding!

From top, clockwise:

Butter pecan sauce, which added texture from the pecans in it, and sweetness from the sauce.  It was a nice compliment to the plain base
.
White chocolate shavings, which melted in, and left pockets of creamy sweetness behind.  Excellent
choice.

Brown butter caramel, which gave it a real depth of flavor, much like a richer butterscotch. This melted in beautifully and I quickly added more.

Caramel popcorn! More crunch, more textures, more sweet, and, um, fun?

In the center I put a dollop of whipped cream, which pooled up and melted in the middle, adding richness.  And on top, I sprinkled Bourbon smoked sea salt , which just amped up the flavors considerably.

I quickly added far more brown butter caramel once I tasted how well it mixed in, along with another hit of the bourbon smoked sea salt.  In the end, I was very pleased.  I had a warm comforting base, sweet components, crunch, salt, and cream.  I'm not sure how much praise I give the semolina itself though ...

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