- This is what should've been stuffed in the samosa earlier.
- To me, it kind of tastes like refried black beans.
- The flavor is off, man.
- I feel like it's the flour that's what's wrong with it.
- I (beep) wouldn't.
(upbeat music)
- Hi, I'm Swasti.
- Hey, I'm Jenny.
- Hey, I'm Tenn. - Hey, I'm Sree.
- And today we're gonna be trying Indian food
from Trader Joe's.
- I love Trader Joe's.
The only thing I think I've tried is the masala burger.
- I would say I do 90% of my groceries at Trader Joe's.
- I recently discovered Trader Joe's, but I'm a huge fan.
- Recently? - Recently.
I thought it was way too bougie for me to be honest.
- I would probably expect the Indian food to be all right
or decent, good to have as a go-to
when you don't feel like cooking.
It wouldn't be my first choice for Indian food.
- I'm Guyanese, I'm West Indian, so I'm Caribbean actually.
I didn't grow up with my parents making Indian food.
West Indian food is different than Indian Indian food.
- I just really love my dad's cooking,
but I can't get that here in California, so.
- Yeah, I also love how my parents make Indian food.
I try go and back and eat it, or I'll replicate it at home.
- I've never bought a microwavable thing from Trader Joe's.
- Same.
- I just buy groceries.
I feel like Trader Joe's hasn't let me down yet,
so I wanna give them the benefit of the doubt.
I think they're gonna stack up.
- [Jenny] Yeah, they're tiny.
- [Swasti] They're tiny little samosas.
- Little guys.
- This one's a little fally aparty, but that's fine.
- Got samosas in the house.
- Ah man, these look dope.
- Bite-size samosa.
- Yeah, they're not like the big ones that you usually see.
- Yeah, I feel like those are more standard,
having bigger ones, but anytime I see a frozen one,
they're always little like this.
- Smells good.
- Okay, we gotta do the cheers.
- Let's do it, cheers.
- Cheers.
- Okay.
- Sweet somewhat, right?
Not spicy at all.
- It's not bad.
- Yeah, good flavor.
- Mm-hmm, there's some spice to it.
- I'd (beep) with it, but when you pop into a restaurant
where people make samosas, a lot of times they're big.
- Yeah, they're really fat.
Usually samosas are about that big.
- When you bite into 'em, it's a lot going on,
so this is easier to just pop into your mouth.
- This is American party food,
when you want to show your friends.
- I like the insides.
- Yeah, this is shocking. - Mmhmm it's pretty good.
- I didn't expect Trader Joe's to nail it.
- I'd give the inside the strong point.
The outside is all right.
- They did a really good job with the inside.
- Yeah, the outside is a bit thin, it's kind of squishy.
It would usually be crispy on the outside
and fluffy on the inside.
- The filling was--
- The masala's pretty good in there.
This is probably my good level of spice.
It's got a very little bit of a kick, which is good for me.
Normally, I feel like you're going to an Indian restaurant,
you ask them for the mild, their mild is my danger zone.
- I would eat it again. - Sure.
- If you needed a quick fix.
- Yeah, nothing compares to the real thing though.
- There's mad different types of Indian bread,
as one would say.
You got naan, paratha, roti.
Guyanese people, we eat mad roti.
That looks like roti.
Yeah, let's see what's up.
- Is this supposed to be a la chaparata?
- This is way better of a preparation.
- Feels better, feels better.
- Yeah, it looks like it's supposed
to be some kind of paratha.
- Oily, this is perfect, look at that.
- Yo, this is pretty solid.
- I like it.
- It's not like the real thing, but I also like it.
- Flakiness. - It's soft.
This is always gonna be paired with something.
Normally people wouldn't eat this by itself like this.
- I'm not gonna lie, this was really good.
- Yeah. - This was really good.
- Again, not authentic, not how my mom makes it, but good.
- Somebody like me, I've never attempted to make roti,
and so I would prefer just heating this up to eat.
- Yeah.
- This would be a good thing to keep in my freezer.
If I had Indian food,
and I just needed that bread to go with it.
- I feel like Trader Joe's
didn't really do anything wrong here.
They got it right for the most part.
- Solid eight out of 10, for sure.
- Yep, would purchase.
- Anything that's fried bread, I'm gonna like it.
- I will take this out later.
When I'm leaving, I'm eating this.
- [Tenn] This is the veggie masala burger, right?
I'm just gonna--
- You're gonna really use a fork, come on.
- I don't know if it's gonna be a little oily and shit.
- This is Indian people doing this.
You use your hands.
- You're right, all right, I'm just gonna forget it then.
- This looks like masala burger to me.
- Masala burger, I know that specifically
from Trader Joe's. - Yes.
- But not from any sort of traditional cooking, at all.
- This is like the McDonald's of Indian Food.
- Actually and if you go McDonald's in India--
- Yeah they have this!
They literally have this, it's crazy.
- Mmhmm. - It's good.
- So good.
- The spices that are in there.
You've got chunks of potato, looks like carrot.
What I like about it is it's a good veggie burger.
- It's good.
It's different.
But you don't see this in India.
My mom never made this, she would make like potato cutlet.
But it wasn't this.
- Even though it wasn't authentic,
I'd probably eat it again, for sure.
- Right now. - Yeah.
Like solid nine out of 10 for sure.
- [Swasti] These are naans.
- This looks like fluffy delicious bread,
but I would not call that naan.
- Bootleg naan.
- Yeah this naan is lookin' bootleg.
- This looks more pita-y.
- Is that what it's supposed to be?
Is it supposed to be naan?
That's what it said on the package?
- I don't know that this is made properly in a tandoor.
- Definitely not.
- [Tenn] Let's see what's up.
- By itself, it tastes not like traditional naan.
- It's soft.
It's chill, it's chill.
- This is more pita-y.
- Yeah the aesthetic is not really,
I don't know, naan looks different.
- Naan is more wider and odd shaped.
- It doesn't taste bad.
- No it's not bad.
It's solid, but definitely not naan.
- [Swasti] (names Indian dish)
Is that what it's supposed to be?
Wanna smell it?
- Doesn't really smell like anything, but it looks good.
- It is dal, clearly.
- Okay, some manner of lentil dish, legumes.
- It looks promising, and based on the (Indian dish) before,
that was really quite good for frozen food,
I feel like it could be good,
but then again I don't smell anything,
and I feel I smelled a lot more out of that.
- Not spicy enough.
I think it's a little bit too sweet.
- Yeah, that's trash.
- Yeah this is straight-- (laughs)
- [Both] Straight hot trash!
- To me it kind of tastes like refried black beans.
- I feel that.
- The flavor is off, man.
Traditionally this should be a spicier thing,
but even if you got it mild,
the flavor is not really kickin'.
- It's good for what it is.
- This is Trader Joe's take in a way
that I would have expected, but slightly better.
- This is like brown oatmeal.
Look at that's not...
(laughs)
It's not that great.
I would never recommend this to anybody ever.
This is not Indian food at all.
- I don't think I would, yeah I wouldn't do that.
- This is brown goop.
- Smells good. - That smells great.
- Right, it smells-- - Garlic-y, tomato-y.
- Yeah. - Spicy.
- Is that some kind of-- - Chickpeas.
- Like chana?
- Yeah this looks like chana masala maybe?
- I washed my hands.
- I'll go this route.
- Way more authentic.
- Yeah, man, that's reasonable.
- I feel like it's missing a certain masala,
and I can't place what it is, but it doesn't have it.
- You would go to an Indian restaurant and probably buy this
I would be shocked if someone told me
that they bought this from Trader Joe's.
- I have to agree, this is really good,
and I don't even like soft chana.
- I'm pleasantly surprised by this.
I just thought it would be salt.
- Yeah, it's definitely very salty, but I'm liking it.
It's not what I would find as a traditionally cooked dish.
- I would definitely recommend this for an Indian person.
- My pops is all about chana,
and I think he would, that would be his jam.
- [Sree] Yeah this was solid.
- [Swasti] Well it's warm, so that's a good start.
- That's nice.
- Okay so-- - It smells Christmas-y.
- I was just gonna say that!
(laughs)
It smells like holidays!
Is this holiday chai?
'Cause I could (beep) with that, I like the holidays.
- This is the right color, but it smells like cinnamon.
- Just the smell of this drink
doesn't smell like an Indian chai.
- It just smells like a Christmas chai.
- Yes, exactly!
- It tastes like school chocolate milk mixed with cinnamon.
- This actually tastes good, but it doesn't taste like chai.
- This is not masala chai.
- No not masala chai at all.
- This is like probably from a packet.
You just poured some milk on it and then gave it to us.
Even if you go to an Indian restaurant,
they would not serve this, for sure.
- I would definitely drink this.
It's creamy, it's sweet, and it's got spices in it.
- If you're looking for winter wonderland in a cup,
this is it for you.
- It is a decent beverage, it's just not chai.
I could drink this as a holiday beverage,
like if Starbucks put some kind of a holiday name on this.
Like, "Winter Extravaganza" I would cop
and happily drink it, but it's just not--
- I'd be okay with that.
- It's not chai though.
- I think it was pretty good, all in all.
I would give it like a seven out of 10.
'Cause they nailed a lot of aspects
when it comes to Indian food.
- I give it like a 6.5 out of 10 as a total.
Going off of authenticity, flavor, and all that.
- Yeah, I'd say seven, overall.
- I definitely will cop that roti again.
- 'Cause you don't expect that.
I feel like out of frozen food.
Definitely not.
- Yeah you definitely have a bit lower expectations,
so they were definitely exceeded.
- So far, Trader Joe's is, that's correct,
has never led me astray, so I think this
is consistent with the Trader Joe's brand.
- Trader Joe's, you did pretty good, for real.
- Yeah, you did good.