Maggi - Dal Atta

It is no secret that I love noodles. My GaneshRam 777 Sambar powder flavored Top Ramen noodles was a favorite for fellow graduate students !

Recently, Nestle has gone on a dicovery path with newer additions to their Maggi noodles lineup.

The vegetable atta was great !

Now comes the Dal Atta aka Sambar noodles !


The ad. pretty much uses every stereotype for a sambar eating south Indian to the point of insulting you. But it still promises every non south Indian a guaranteed authentic sambar flavor. After seeing the advertisement for the Dal Atta, I had to try it !!

If there is one thing that will turn you off faster than the ad. for this noodles, it is the noodles itself !!

This thing downright sucks! I expected something remotely close to my own sambar flavored noodles, hoping to get a whiff of tamarind, cumin, coriander, fenugreek and mustard.. but it was disappointing.

Why ? After you cook the masala for the usual time and cook the noodles, the hot spices stand out. You get the same taste as you get in some restaurants, where they didn't take the time to cook the sambar fully and you think you are eating uncooked chili powder. It is always a challenge to make tasty sambar quickly. The faster you try to wing it, the worse it tastes.. I thought Nestle did some pre cooked magic to eliminate this problem, but was wrong.

So, here is a tip to salvage the situation, in case you bought a 100 pack box of this stuff !! (I buy noodles in boxes! lucky for me, I always do a trial run before I get my box). Add nearly 1 1/2 times the water for every pack, put the tastemaker in and let it boil till the water comes down to the usual 1 cup. Then cook the noodles.

You can also make it taste closer to sambar if you add a little asafoedita after the masala is cooked.

Better luck next time Maggi ..