My family enjoys Indian food, and Trader Joe’s and Aldi stores both offer a few Indian items. We recently tried Trader Joe’s Aloo Chaat Kati Pouches. We’ve never eaten aloo chaat or kati pouches before, so we can’t necessarily speak to whether they taste authentic, but we did enjoy them and we have some familiarity with other types of Indian food such as tikka masala.
A bit of background information: aloo chaat is basically a spiced potato dish (aloo means potatoes in Hindi), and kati rolls are another street food that originated as kebabs wrapped in bread.
Trader Joe’s Aloo Chaat Kati Pouches are found in the freezer section, and they were $2.49 for an 8-oz. box at the time of publication. The package describes these as “crispy pastry stuffed with potatoes, chick peas, chaat masala & tamarind chutney.” Each box contains two vegetarian pastries, and one pastry makes a decent-sized lunch if paired with some fresh fruit, veggies, or another side. One pouch or pastry is one serving, and it contains 320 calories, 18 grams of fat, 0 mg of cholesterol, 500 mg of sodium, and 3 grams of sugars. One serving also has 5 grams of protein and 10% of your daily value of iron.
Ingredients are: unbleached enriched wheat flour (wheat flour, malted barley flour, niacin, iron, thiamin, mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), water, potatoes, canola oil, palm oil, onions, chickpeas, coriander leaves (cilantro), sugar, spices, dates, yogurt (whole milk, lactobacillus bulgaricus and streptococcus thermophilus), salt, green chili pepper, mint leaves, garlic, tamarind, baking powder (monocalcium phosphate, sodium bicarbonate, corn starch), dry mango powder, citrus fiber, yeast, shredded coconut, sesame seeds, and citric acid.
These can be prepared in the microwave or in the oven.
To microwave, remove plastic wrapper and slide kati pouch into crisping sleeve. Do not use the sleeve more than once. Place on a microwave-safe dish and heat on high power 2 minutes for 1 kati pouch or 3.5 minutes for 2 kati pouches. Let stand for 2 minutes after cooking before removing from sleeve. Remove carefully because the kati pouch will be hot.
To prepare in the oven, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Remove wrapper and place kati pouch on baking sheet. Do not use the crisping sleeve. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Let stand for 2 minutes after cooking. The interior of the kati pouch will be very hot.
My family liked these pouches, and they reminded us of large vegetable samosas. They have that familiar outer pastry, and the filling has lots of potatoes and spices typical of Indian cuisine. These are spicy, but not overly so, although you may want to have a full glass of water at your table when you eat these. It’s not authentic, but my 10-year-old loves to eat them with some Ranch dressing to help cut the heat.
The Verdict:
Trader Joe’s Aloo Chaat Kati Pouches are like an Indian version of Hot Pockets. They are similar to vegetable samosas but not quite the same. If you enjoy Indian food, these are worth a try.
