I’ve tried making Indian food at home and I gave up because I lacked the techniques and ingredients to make it a staple in my repertoire. If you’ve ever tried your hand at making Indian food you’ll understand that most of the work lies in assembling the various spices and herbs and that’s why Tyga is on to something.
From the moment the Tyga box arrived I was sold. It looked beautiful and while style might be not be as important as substance it certainly goes a long way to establish first impressions.
I don’t know what I was expecting, maybe some fresh produce, but when I realised it was only a tray of spices and a few ‘wet’ ingredients, I was a tiny bit disappointed, but that only lasted a moment. Once I’d bought my chicken and a packet of mushrooms I realised that I had everything else on hand to make my Chicken Dopiaza, Mushroom Bhaji and Cumin Potato feast.
Aside from the finesse and quality of the printed material that accompanies the ingredients box, the actual product itself is also rather wonderful. Matt Griffiths and Shahin Ahmed from Cheltnham partnered up to create Tyga boxes for people who want to cook authentic Indian cuisine at home but who might not have the time or resources to make it happen.
Griffiths came up with flavour pods from his marketing days at Kenco coffee, wondering if you could apply the same technology to coffee as you could to spices. It turns out you can. And it’s a winning idea because it takes the guess work out of cooking Indian at home and the results are incredible.
At £10.99 per box, you might think it’s a bit steep for some spices and a little ginger and garlic, and it’s true that you are paying over the odds for the ingredients. But the success of Tyga is that it delivers something greater than the sum of its parts because what you get is the guarantee of two main and two side dishes of authentic Indian taste that you’ve made yourself.
You get the recipe cards that are very easy to follow, and you also get a little bit of history about the dishes you’re making, along with the stylish brown box of spice pots that looks rather nice on the bench. You’ll also get a breakdown of the ingredients inside the spice pots, but sadly not the proportions.
Order a box a month, or every two or three months and gift boxes are also available. As yet, you can’t choose which box to buy, you’ll have take what’s on offer for that month. A different region of India is explored each month, but from what I’ve experienced, you won’t be disappointed.