All new..

The first of the series, I hope to update this regularly, provided there are new products arriving in the market.

I honestly do not why I haven’t blogged on this topic before, honestly, because I am such a sucker for new product launches. Earlier it extended to everything new that I saw in the market, face creams and washes, shampoos, lotions – you name it! Now that I’ve turned 30, I have decided to stick to one accessible brand, in this case Himalaya Herbals. Although I did just get off the L’Occitane website, after having spent a packet. Lets get back to food.

Here are ones that have caught my eye, so far. Appears, there is a lot of stress on “healthy snacking”.

Maggi Noodletz: The package design is rather cluttered and garish - at first one couldn’t really figure what it was. Maggi has seen so many variations in the recent years, first Atta Noodles then Multigrain. So when one saw this, one wasn’t sure if it was another ‘healthier’ variant or something new. On further scrutiny one sees the “Ready to Eat Noodle Bits” in the south west corner of the package. They are also very quick in adding NO ADDED MSG! ‘Crunchy noodles in a pack’ is how they describe it. Priced at Rs. 15 a pack.

Taste wise – its rather like regular masala Maggi crushed into tiny shards with the tastemaker premixed. Called Swinging Masala, also available was a Rockin Chicken variant. I’ve eaten regular Masala Maggi uncooked so this tasted pretty much the same. Except, they did live up to the crunchy experience. They are tapping a segment which has only hosted a Wai Wai and Top Ramen Mug Noodles so far. So if you find it hard to spare 2 minutes (do minit) all you need to do is open and eat!

Lay’s Baked Chips: I liked the package design, very clean, simple and straightforward. The ‘Baked’ in bold red letters screams out loud. How can one not pick one up?! There is so much guilt attached to snacking these days – guilt created. I mean if you really wanted to snack healthy why not a gajar (carrot) or kheera (cucumber) salad! This product tries to fit into this ‘healthy snacking’ segment by stating 50% less fat than fried chips. In 3 variants, Regular Salted, Herb Cream & Onion and Tomato – I bought the first two. Priced at Rs. 30 for a pack of 67 gms.

Made out of potato flakes (47%) and wheat flour (maida/flour, duh?! – also they don’t mention how much) they taste almost identical to Lay’s Stax or Pringles except they are ridged (I really wish they weren’t). Had tasted this product about three years ago in the US, liked those better mainly because they weren’t ridged. So basically we have your regular Lay’s flavours with the texture of Stax/Pringles and the claim of being baked. A funny thing, Lay’s always goes out and out to state No Transfats – here there is no mention of this – all it mentions is Fat 15.4 per 100 gms. Food for thought?

Mother Dairy Mishti Dahi: I must say they have done a really good job of bringing the yummy mishti doi to the masses. Ofcourse, nothing can replace the wet earthen pot holding the doi bought from Ganguram great grandson on Ho - Chi - Minh Sarani (yes yes, it’s a sweet shop in Kolkata and the actual name of a road). But when you’re sitting in a concrete jungle I guess one has to do with a plastic cup. Priced at Rs. 10 for a 90 gm pack, they also have a 400 gm SKU. The taste is perfect, almost store bought – once again, yes, one does miss the earthen pot.