Just Noodles - Indian Butter Chicken product reviews

I have always enjoyed noodles and recently have started to ensure that I have a noodle cup or two in the cupboard for when I'm needing a snack or something for an easy lunch. Seeing these noodle cups up for review I decided to give them a go and was lucky enough to receive one in my first review box. Getting to Friday night and wanting something easy for tea I decided to prepare these noodles.

I began by reading the instructions - easy enough to follow although being the end of a busy week I had to read them a few times before I took them on board!! I opened the lids as instructed and poured the boiling water in. I wasn't 100% sure whether to fill to just above (as it said to cover the noodles in the instructions) or fill to the line. I chose the line as I knew the water would be drained any way so it didn't matter if I ended up with too much water. I waited the two minutes required - isn't it funny how time goes so slow when you are waiting for food to be prepared?! I then picked up the pottle very carefully, being aware that it was filled with boiling water and there didn't seem to be much to the cup. It was warm to touch but not all that hot. Trying to drain the water was a whole other story though. I was aware that the lid may come off having read some previous reviews so tried to have a good hold on it while I tipped the noodles. This is where it got a bit hot and I was a bit weary about holding the lid as I didn't want to burn myself. The lid did start to come off a couple of times, making the whole draining process a bit of a mission!

Once it was done it was time to mix in the sauce. As I opened the sauce sachet I was quite surprised - it didn't smell quite like butter chicken but it was definitely the smell of an authentic style Indian sauce. I squeezed the sauce onto the noodles and attempted to mix it in. Being so thick it was quite hard to get it evenly spread over the noodles. This coupled with the fact that the bendable fork is pretty useless it took some time to get the sauce mixed in. The fork needs a better locking system on it as it just kept bending every time I put some force behind it to mix the noodles. Once the process was finished I sat down to enjoy the noodles.

I was a little disappointed about the amount of noodles in the cup - for the size of the cup it was barely half full. I guess for the price it's not too bad, but I would've liked it to have been filled a bit more! The flavour was amazing - definitely authentic Indian but not quite so sure about butter chicken flavour. I did enjoy them however and would have them again as a quick-ish snack. A couple of slight improvements and it would be a perfect product.

I have recently been lucky enough to review both the Japanese Teriyaki and Mexican Salsa varieties of Just Noodles, and I can happily say I had really enjoyed both of these flavours and could see how amazing they would go when added to meal type dishes such as teriyaki chicken stir fry and nachos. While at my Mother in Laws yesterday I saw that she had 6 containers of the Just Noodles Indian Butter Chicken variety, which she had brought for her son a lover of both noodles and butter chicken.

Come dinner time we decided to cook up some stir fry chicken that was in the fridge, and unsure of what to have with this I suggested that we cook up a couple of packets of the Butter Chicken noodles and make a butter chicken dish. While the chicken was busy cooking away in the fry pan I prepared the noodles as per packet instruction, adding boiling water to the line and then replacing the lid and leaving to cook for 2 minutes. When the chicken was cooked through I decided to add the 2 sachets of butter chicken sauce to the fry pan and stir it into the chicken rather than into the noodles directly as this was one problem I had had with the prior flavours I had tried, with the sauce not wanting to mix in properly and thought that perhaps this may help me overcome this. The sauce mixed in nicely evenly coating the chicken and then the noodles were added and there was a generous amount of sauce that these to were also well coated. We dished the Butter Chicken dish up in bowls and added some cashew nuts to the top for a bit of an extra crunch. 2 packs of noodles and a small tray of chicken stir fry was enough to feed 4 people easily.

The taste was great, it certainly resembled that of Butter Chicken but with half of the spice you'd usually get, though I was pleased about this as I'm not the biggest fan of spice. Everybody loved there meal, even Miss 3 wanted more and the non Butter Chicken eaters didn't complain once. All in all this turned out to be such a quick and tasty, easy to prepare meal to make.

The noodles are such a good buy at only $1.30 each, but were a even better buy at Countdown this week for just $1 each, and we enjoyed them so much that we walked across the road to buy more after dinner while the sale was still on! So yes definitely a product worth trying and that we will be buying more of in the future!

I was really excited to try this flavour as I love butter chicken. When I walked in the door coming home from course for lunch and seen my mum prepping them up, I was like no.... I need to try those to do a review, so we ended up sharing them. I found it really difficult to watch mum trying to manage to prepare them, I asked her if she read the instructions and she said yes. She didn't add boiling water and wait 2 minutes, instead she added water and microwaved, in which she ended up making a mess in the microwave with water over flowing.

When it came time to put the lid on and pour the water out, that didn't work very well either and the lid popped off as clearly with the heat of the cup she couldn't hold it on, so all the noodles dropped down our waste disposal unit. So using tongs she got them out and washed them off. At this point I was thinking oh my, I think I'll leave her to try these ones. She added the flavour and it smelled great, I did notice how quickly it stained the cup and fork. Also how it was thick and not runny, which is a good thing. The flavour to me was not butter chicken flavour as such that I am used it. It did remind me of an Indian taste though but I don't think that it was butter chicken.

I personally don't think I would buy that flavour again, and although we did not have an easy process of making the noodles I look forward to trying the other flavours and hopefully with reading the instructions and making them right then things will flow a bit easier. As they do look like they could be a easy quick meal, and I know my son would enjoy them.

I was lucky enough to get to review these noodles and I was looking forward to potentially finding a quick and tasty lunch meal for winter at work!

I was surprised when I first looked at the carton at how light and thin it felt. I would have thought that because you had to add boiling water that this would have been some form of polystyrene cup to help it hold its heat and to make it cool to touch once boiling water was added. I followed the instructions and added in my water to cover my noodles. I folded the lid back on top and put the drain lid on top and left it to sit. I am not one for hard noodles so I left them to sit for roughly 5-6 minutes to make them a wee bit softer.

I removed the inside lid and put the drainage lid back on. I found it really awkward trying to tip of this really hot water while holding onto a very hot cup with no insulation to keep my fingers safe. I got quite frustrated but managed to drain it without burning my fingers.

I tore the sachet open (it took me a bit to get it open) and I was greeted by an amazing aroma! It actually made me think of my local indian shop where we get our butter chicken from. I mixed through the flavouring and it stirred in quite easily even when the flimsy fork kept folding in half on me!

The flavour was just perfect, full of flavour, not too spicy and had a good hint of tomato flavouring. For a quick 2 minute meal on the run these are perfect. I think maybe if you made this into a dinner meal and added chicken it would be a nice dinner meal on those nights where you are lacking in inspiration.

What an incredibly easy concept. Remove lid, fill with water leave for 2 minutes then drain, add flavour and then hey presto you are done. After a very busy day, late lunch no one was extremely hungry so we decided to trial the three flavours I was lucky enough to review - a little over an hour so as not to mix the flavours.

I made the noodles as per instructions, but I was confused with how far to fill the water too. As there is an indented line close to the top I assumed that meant something and filled to that line. After boiling the jug I left the cup alone for two minutes. First time picking up the cup to drain the water I was surprised with how warm the cup was for some reason I assumed it would of been cool, but it was manageable. I was a little worried tipping the water out as concerned the lid would fall off but it worked perfectly.

I loved that it came with a cute little foldable folk and used this to mix the flavour through. It smelt rather yummy. I found it mixed perfectly and any paste that was on the base easily got mixed in. First taste was a very strong tomato flavour, not the butter chicken taste that I am used too. I found I only could have a couple of spoonfuls before passing it on. This is not something I could personally eat a lot of. I also found for quite a while had a strong tomato after taste. My girls loved it and both said they would happily have again. My husband also said he would like to trial with pieces of chicken and make it more into a meal then just a snack.

I have to admit I have not had much experience with two minute noodles but I found it very easy and convenient. It's nice to think in less than three minutes you can be sitting down eating a meal.

This is not something I could happily sit down and eat myself. I found it rather rich and too tomato strong for my liking. But in saying that I am open to revisiting this flavour with the addition of chicken added to it. This flavour was the firm favourite with the four of us.

The Indian Butter Chicken was a nice flavour (although didn't taste like Indian Butter Chicken as a curry that I'm used to), but not intense enough for a full flavour. The flavour packet was good though being in 1 sachet, not 5 like some brands, but it didn't mix very well. I tried as per the instructions by mixing the flavour sachet after the water was drained but it was quite hard to mix through. The fork I found to be rather useless though. Folding out was a good idea to include, but the direction is folds means when you stir the noodles in the water, it folds back into itself! I decided to not use the fork included after numerous attempts and just used one of our own.

The packaging was very appealing, it looked affordable and easy to see what the flavour was and looked easy to use. The directions were clear, and the nutritional information was easy to read. The black background makes all the words pop!

The packaging is great as the water can be poured directly in, boiling, and you can still hold it without burning yourself. The cup had a line where to fill with water to and once done, you leave! Once the water has been in long enough, the lid comes into play...awesome design!! No more lost noodles down the drain from coming around the edge of a fork when trying to drain the water. And no burnt hands!

Instant noodles are a great convenience food. They are useful as a snack or as part of a meal in place of potato etc. Other brands' flavours, however, are frequently either too bland or too salty. I was interested in trying the new Indian Butter Chicken variety to see if it passed muster. Butter Chicken is one of my favourite dishes so I think I am well qualified to comment!

I found the packaging a challenge. I followed the instructions exactly, but found using the provided lid as a sieve to drain the water off the noodles was awkward. No matter how I held the lid in place, as soon as I inverted the lid I burned my fingers. The carton is not quite thick enough to provide insulation against the very hot contents. I tried holding it in different places, but the heat still managed to travel through. The lid was even worse! And to complicate things further, the lid actually fell right off when I could not clamp it firmly enough due to the heat, and I lost the contents completely. Luckily there was a clean bowl underneath so I was able to retrieve them!

A further challenge came with the flavour sachet. It has serrated edges but they are quite thick and it was difficult to tear the package open. I was conscious that the contents were liquid (and colourful!) so would make quite a mess if I tore too vigorously. It would help if a "Tear Here" notice could be printed on the sachet and a partial split added to the serrations to make opening easier to manage. I also found the provided fork was too flimsy to mix the sachet contents and the noodles effectively although it was adequate for actually eating them.

Next time I buy them, I will use a proper sieve for straining, scissors to cut the sachet open, and a real fork to mix. This does detract from the "instant noodles" idea which implies that you can prepare them anywhere that you have access to boiling water, but I think I will be confining my consumption to my own home! I guess it would be ok to prepare in accordance with the instructions if you were very careful, but I would not be comfortable leaving a young child to prepare them unsupervised.

Having said all that, I was delighted with the actual taste and texture of the product. It was actually worth the hassle of getting it ready! The Butter Chicken taste is reasonably authentic, smooth and spicy without being too hot, and I was particularly impressed that it did not taste of too much salt! In fact, the "reduced salt" label would have enticed me to try this product anyway. The noodles were firm and slightly chewy; they did not disintegrate in the bowl and one packet was sufficient for a good sized, satisfying snack.

After a long day with no lunch break, and three hours still to go before I could sit down to dinner, I found that they were the ideal late afternoon snack to provide a quick energy shot. Now I am intrigued enough to go out and buy the other flavours in the range to see if they measure up flavourwise. Watch this space!

Curry and noodles seemed a bit of an odd combination, but as a man who has eaten literally hundreds of curries, and probably thousands of packs of "instant" noodles, this product certainly piqued my curiosity.

Now I feel it's important that I just went into autopilot when making these noodles, and I didn't actually read the instructions beforehand. Well, this became a slight issue as I add my flavouring sachets before adding the boiling water, in an attempt to get the noodles to absorb some of the flavour, rather than just being a coating. The big selling point of this product is the "thick juicy sauce" which I unfortunately ended up draining most of into the sink.

Regardless of this hiccup, I was quite intrigued by the consistency and aroma of the flavour sachet. I liked the taste. It had a very authentic flavour to it, which despite lacking any real spice to it (nothing a chopped birds eye pepper can't fix), was enjoyable, and not the overwhelmingly sugary, scarlet red abomination that many indian cuisines produce to appease the european palates. The colour was appealing, and the aroma and flavours subtle. Not a powder or granules, the flavour paste is rather viscous, which is clearly the origin of the sauces thickness, and why they have put so much effort into the drain lid (the instant noodle revolution is here! technology of the future!).

After two minutes cooking, I found the noodles were still too firm to be considered al dente, and barely took up half of the cup, so I would in the future leave the noodles to cook for longer, for better texture and volume. But overall, I enjoyed this product. It is a nice change in the usual noodle flavours, but the flavour was not strong enough(granted I may have lost too much flavour down the sink) to qualify being a top choice for me.

As every good chef, and pretty much every male who even suspect he may be able to actually cook something, will tell you - recipes are guidelines not fixed rules. You should follow a recipe closely until you know how to make the dish, then throw it away and start to 'get the feel' for your own version of it. Make it your own, and own it. That said... I can't cook a decent Murgh Makhani to save my life and if someone held a gun to my head and told me to make it or die... I'd still be trying to add curry and tomato sauce together as I waited in line at the Pearly Gates. Despite that, I have become quite a solid appreciator of a good Butter Chicken dish and often make the effort to check out the offerings at any local Indian dining holes I happen to be near for any length of time.

This sauce smelled amazing, when I tore open the sachet and prepared to mix it into the cooked and well-drained noodles. The colour was great - a burnt-umber colour with shots of saffron yellow streaking through it - and as I mixed it through the hot noodles it surrounded me with all those spices and aromas I adore in Indian cuisine. But, of course, one has to keep in mind this is an inexpensive noodle snack, not a fine-dining experience, so I wasn't really expecting a lot from it.

Which is why I am actually quite pleased by the results. Despite my own preferences requiring me to cook the noodles far longer than the recommended "2-minute soak in boiling water", the noodles came out well cooked all the way through without being gloopy or slimy, a sure sign of the starches being over-soaked and breaking down. After a couple of previous attempts with the sauces and getting mixed results based on residual water content, I tried to make the sauce thinner with heat rather than moisture, and so while the noodles were steeping, I laid the sauce sachet on top to catch all of the heat being radiated up. This worked amazingly well, allowing me to mix the sauce very evenly in a very short amount of time, so I actually got a good spread of flavour and a hot snack.

The flavour was, as expected, short of the ideal mark for a proper Murgh Makhani, but it wasn't so far short as to be a failure by any means. In fact, it was pretty good for a pre-made sauce sachet. I have certainly tasted worse 'instant snacks' of various types that claim to have authentic flavours, only to find they were as close to the real thing as my attempts... and you can trust me when I say that is a bad, bad thing to admit. This, on the other hand, was quite passable, if a little weak on the spice-heat for my own tastes. I do like an Indian dish that is brave enough to bite back just a wee bit.

Overall, this was a good version for a quick snack-in-a-pot. I would certainly buy it again, and plan to keep some in the office cupboard for when the mood strikes and I need a fast but tasty snack to tide me over, or if I decide to go camping again later in the year. While it won't blow your socks off, it could be a worthwhile experiment and would go great with torn up chunks of leftover roast chicken tossed in as well. I would have liked to have seen a bit more sauce though.