Indianlife – Palak (Spinach) Chips

I can’t say I’ve had much experience with Indian style snacks, but I do know they have some tasty fried snacks, and I’m expecting these to be similar in format. As far as spinach based dishes go, I’ve only ever had it in a paneer form, which is a tasty vegetarian dish, though admittedly also a very green one that might scare off newcomers.

I saw these in a local store and figured it would make for an interesting new snack. I can’t say I’ve had much of these fried wheat chips before, though I can kind of imagine what they would taste like. I’m also a tad curious how the spinach will change anything, if at all.

Opening the bag, I’m greeted by that oh so familiar smell if fried dough. There is now very little doubt in my mind what this is going to taste like. Maybe the only thing I’m not sure of is the specific flavour, but I have a pretty good idea of the texture and most of the flavour from the smell alone. My mouth is watering a bit, as I am transported to an early childhood memory of where I may or may not have gorged myself on similar fried dough snacks. Allegedly.

These (surprise surprise) taste like the fried dough on the outside of a samosa. The taste of spinach and fenugreek give the chips an aromatic and herb like quality,an almost savoury flavour. The salt and cayenne help to give it a little more flavour and kick that is not too strong and adds just a tad extra. The chips taste great on their own, but I can see these going great with a dip of some sort, maybe something with a bit of sweetness to really round things out.

The texture of these is very similar to what you’d expect from a dough fritter or some other form of fried flour snack. It reminds me of something similar to a deep fried cracker of some sort. They are crunchy, but in a very crumbling, pie crust kind of way. Or like a pastry covered by dough and deep fried. There’s no doubt that these are fried, is what I’m getting at.

The one thing I will say about these is that they feel a bit on the oily side, so you might feel bloated after eating your fair share of serving sizes (as I have). I am quite confident these would go great with a dip or salsa, preferably a sweeter one to balance out the savoury, salty flavour of the chip itself.

These are a bit different from what I use to, by which I mean they are greasier than what I’m used to. The greasiness also means that these feel richer and heavier than normal chips, and you’ll probably get a greater sense of fullness and satisfaction from eating less of these. That’s probably a good thing though, as these are quite tasty and I found myself stopping only because of how bloated I felt. I would definitely recommend trying these if you can find them, which is more likely if you hail from the frigid North as I do.