Saffron Fix is a meal and dinner kit subscription service that will satisfy your Indian food cravings each month. The subscription costs $48 per month for 2 meals or $60 for 3, and you can choose vegetarian or non-veg, and you’ll receive fresh pre-chopped ingredients and hard-to-find spices to prepare a delicious home-cooked Indian meal. Every month they’ll send you an email for meal selection.
Note that this box delivers only to New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Virginia, Washington DC, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Delaware at the present time. The limited geography ensures limited time in transit, which means fresher ingredients. Hopefully, they will add additional locations from which they ship, so everyone can enjoy it as much as we do!
Everything arrived bagged by meal and packed in insulating bubble wrap. It comes surrounded with ice and stays nice and cool.
DEAL: Save $30 off your first box! Use coupon code GETYOURFIX.
Everything in our box! It has been a while since our last review of Saffron Fix, so I was eager to see if they had changed anything. I immediately noticed an improvement in their packaging — the spices were nicely bundled, tomatoes and cilantro were sent whole instead of pre-chopped (solving some minor issues previously observed with leaking tomato juice and freshness of herbs), and the bread, meat and cheese are now provided by a third party commercial vendor to ensure quality and freshness.
The recipe cards note the cooking time, calories, and number of servings, and it separately lists those ingredients included in the kit and those items you need to supply (e.g. salt, oil, saucepan, etc). Because the dishes prepared are likely to be relatively unfamiliar to the cook (if you eat gourmet Indian food all the time, I am very jealous), the color photograph is really handy for getting a sense of the desired appearance and consistency of the prepared dish. Also useful is a short description of the dish, including notes on any unusual ingredients or techniques, as well as a guide to adjusting the heat level of the dish.
A card is included with nutrition information for all of the available meals for the month. It also reminds you to eat any fish dishes first for maximum freshness — the meal cards also list the preferred timeframe within which each dish should be prepared to ensure the best quality of ingredients.
The back of the card has the actual recipe guidance, complete with pictures. The instructions for the main dish are clearly written and easy to follow. I prefer this brief format to the more verbose style used by other kits, as my eyes are less likely to jump to the wrong spot or transpose directions crowded together.
Separate instructions were provided for the rice. I thought they were a bit odd, as they involved draining the very soft rice after cooking. I think the intent was to reduce cooking time, but the rice ended up being a little waterlogged. I think next time I will prepare as I usually do (rinse, place in 1 1/2 times volume of cold water, boil for 20 minutes with lid on, let sit covered for 10 minutes).
Each recipe was packed separately, and neatly, in its own bag, with everything needed for each recipe together, excluding the meat, cheese and bread. These were packed by third party vendors. I really like this improvement since our last review. The packaging for the pantry items and produce held together well — there was absolutely no damage or spillage — and the quality of the cheese meat and bread were excellent. The sealed, original packaging inspires more confidence in the quality and freshness than the previous repackaging did.
Our box even came with a bonus — a serving of Gulab Jamun!
Gulab Jamun are cardamom seasoned donut rounds in a rose infused syrup.
Our version didn’t appear to have any rose water in it, so I believe ours is a pistachio version of the treat.
We received three balls to share. It is very sweet, so the portion was entirely sufficient (particularly following a spicy meal).
This is a fun dessert for those new to Indian food, because the flavors are emblematic of Indian cuisine, and the basic form is familiar to Western palates, but the texture is delightful and unexpected.
The interior becomes very soft from steeping in the syrup, but the exterior of the rounds had a very comforting fried donut feel.
Beef and Matar Keema. 30 minutes, 350 calories per serving.
This dish reminds me of Ethiopian Kitfo, but this dish is cooked until very well done. Similarly, it is dependent on accompanying bread for ease of eating and balancing the boldness and richness of the flavor. this dish was excellent, though it was certainly very greasy due to the volume of meat in the dish. The meat created a lot of oil, but it was itself very lean tasting once cooked. The flavors of the dish were excellent, and it was very spicy. My favorite element was the pairing with the thin roti. I usually think of roti as a whole wheat version of naan, but this style was thin like a flour tortilla. When warmed in an oiled pan, it developed a wonderful nuttty flavor and slight crispness that was a perfect complement to the beef. This dish was extremely easy to make, as the only real prep was chopping tomato, a tiny chili, and cilantro.
Matar Paneer. 30 minutes, 400 calories per serving.
One of my favorite Indian dishes is Saag or Palak Paneer — this dish uses the same cheese but incorporates peas and a spicy tomato based sauce. This dish was very spicy (I used the full spice level), so the cheese cubes were a welcome bit of creaminess amongst the sauce. The rice didn’t turn out very well, but it was ok mixed with the sauce. I loved the fresh flavor and firm texture of the cheese! This dish was easy to make, with only tomato and green chili needing to be chopped. The ingredients were similar to those in the Keema, but this dish began with toasted whole cumin seeds, and the ending flavor profile was completely distinct.
I was very pleased with our dishes. Saffron Fix has improved their packaging and has done a fabulous job of sourcing fresh ingredients in stable packaging. The flavor profiles are excellent and are not shy on the spice! If your are sensitive to heat, they package the cayenne separately and provide guidance on decreasing the amount to suit your taste. I like their shift to whole tomatoes and commercially packed herbs, as these were in perfect condition and worth the tiny bit of prep to ensure the quality — onions were still pre-chopped to spare the tears. The only continuing difficulty I have is obtaining the right consistency for my sauces, as mine always seem to remain dry and the tomato resists breaking down. This is possibly due to preparing in smaller batches than the original recipes intended (thus throwing off the moisture retention experience in a big pot), but the recipes do suggest adding some water or blending ingredients to obtain saucier recipes if desired. I love this subscription — it is a great way for mom and dad to get their Indian food fix without a sitter or having to watch your little ones refuse to eat anything but naan and rice at the restaurant.
What do you think of this month’s recipes?
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