Sweet Craftiness: Review: Very Lazy Red Thai Curry Cooking Concentrate

I'M BACK!! It's been a while since I picked up this blog, but what prompted me to write was that I had a Tweet from a very lovely company @VeryLazyFood thanking me for following them on Twitter. I replied stating that I hadn't tried their products but that they looked wonderful! I then had a lovely message from them saying that if I gave them my address they would pop one in the post for me to try. I thought that this was such a lovely gesture from them that I felt compelled to pick up my blog again and write up my experience using the Very Lazy Cooking Concentrate.

REVIEW: I was sent the Very Lazy Red Thai Curry to test out; this probably would have been the last one I would have picked given the choice. I've made my own Thai Curries in the past and they have always turned out too sweet and watery for my liking. But after opening the jar, all my senses were totally won over. The ginger, red chillies, coconut and red peppers hit my nostrils and the smell was so vibrant and fresh smelling that it actually made my mouth water. It is fair to say that this has never happened to me before when opening a jar of cooking sauce; this is why I usually prefer to cook from scratch.

A quick look at the ingredients confirmed my thoughts, the smell radiating from the jar was made up from the actual ingredients rather than E numbers mimicking flavours, smells and colours. Here are the ingredients:

Ingredients: Red peppers, onions, coconut milk,(coconut, water), red wine vinegar, coconut, sugar, vegetable oil, water, lemongrass puree, lime leaves, galangi, garlic puree, ginger puree, cornflour, salt, concentrated lemon juice, red chilli puree, red chilli flakes, red chillies.

As you can see there are absolutely no additives or preservatives at all!

What I really liked about the cooking concentrate was the lovely aroma and the fact that you could make out the ingredients from looking at the sauce.

Coconut, chilli flakes and red pepper were clearly visible and so not only appealed to my nostrils but looked aesthetically pleasing too! The cooking concentrates come in glass jars so are perfect for recycling or using as paint pots, for storage etc.

The instructions were easy to follow. All that was required after stir-frying the chicken was to add in the cooking concentrate and then some coconut milk - so easy! As soon as the cooking concentrate was added, my husband came downstairs to say what a lovely smell was wafting upstairs. Even the children said it smelt nice. As you can see from the above instructions, there are a few variations you can make to the recipe.

This is the completed dish (sorry for the rubbish photo but was being harassed by the children):

The finished result was absolutely divine. The dish managed to combine the sweetness with the chilli perfectly and so the heat and sweetness element mingled to create the perfect flavour. The sauce was lovely and creamy and was quickly devoured by me and my husband. Sadly the children didn't like this dish, but I didn't really expect them to. Anything remotely hot is a big no-no for them and so I will have to test out a few other jars from the Very Lazy to find a true family favourite! But this is perfect for us adults.

Verdict: I can see why Very Lazy is so eager to give out samples! I believe apart from the usual market of people who already buy pre-prepared sauces, they also have a whole new market at their fingertips; people who normally shun pre-prepared cooking sauces. The ingredients are so fresh and unadulterated that they have managed to make a complicated dish an easy thing to accomplish. Priced at £1.92 the jar works out great value for money; not only are you cutting down on your time spent in the kitchen but works out cheaper than if you were to buy all the individual ingredients yourself. The taste of the Red Thai Curry was absolutely amazing, so much so we think Very Lazy should rebrand to: