Tasty Bite Punjab Eggplant

May 18, 2006 | Reviewer: Kate

Price: $3.29
Serving: 1/2 pack, 5 oz.
Calories: 144
Fat: 14%, 9g
Sodium: 21%, 515mg
Carbs: 4%, 13g
Fiber: 8%, 2g
Protein: 4g

Vegan, Kosher, Gluten-Free

Tasty Bite says: Braised eggplant cooked in a distinctively flavored sauce.

Kate says: I love eggplant in almost all forms, so I thought that the Tasty Bite Punjab Eggplant would be an easy win for a quick lunch. Unfortunately the so-called “distinctively flavored sauce” is oily, and although pleasantly spicy, lacking flavor. If I wrote the descriptive sentence for this dish it would be: Spicy eggplant mush with bland, oily sauce. As I write this, I think that spicy and bland seem to be mutually exclusive, but this dish proves otherwise: it heats up my mouth without pleasing my taste buds. The package is two servings, and after eating both servings in about six minutes, I discovered that they are probably right and I should have stopped eating after one serving. Two servings cause slight discomfort.

I will eat Punjab Eggplant again if it is available and I am hungry, but I will not go out of my way for it.

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comments

8 Responses to “Tasty Bite Punjab Eggplant”

laura on June 19th, 2006

ummm
i loved it
I never eat indian food which may explain my apparently underdeveloped taste buds
but i really really like it
jackie on March 3rd, 2007

I haven’t tried this eggplant dish from Tasty Bite, but have liked some of their other meals.

The main reason I like this brand is because if you look at the ingredient list it is all real stuff. I liked* the Spinach Dal and Basmanti Rice and it contains water, spinach, lentils, tomatoes, onions, sunflower oil, cornstarch, ginger, garlic, sugar, chili, herb&spices, salt, and basmati rice. I know what all of those things are!

I am wondering what other people think of their other meals.

* As a bit of a food fanatic, I am not really a fan of microwave meals, so when I say I liked it, it means its better than the majority of prepackaged meals. We are in the middle of a kitchen remodel – so anything decent seems like a life saver.
Curry Monkey on March 14th, 2007

Uhg. Worst. Tasty Bite. Flavor. Ever.

Actually, maybe I just don’t like eggplant, but I am positive this is the worst of the Tasty Bites. I would say their Bombay Potatoes, Jaipur Vegetables, and most dishes with paneer or spinach are my favorites. Maybe Jodhpur Lentels on a “pea soup” day.

Anyway, I usually wimp out and get the Indian “MRE” kind with included nuke-box and spoon (again I only get the veg, paneer, and spinach kinds). Guess I’m lazy that way. They are just as greasy-nasty looking as the others but still pretty healthy and pretty good.

But you have inspired be to track down the Green Guru! Your reviews of the Gurus are making be salivate already… you can get the TBs in direct bulk for about $1.75 and I got waaayyy too many.

Thanks for the reviews!
Ami on June 5th, 2007

I agree, but I would have given it one star. I bought same entree along with the Peas, Paner and Rice. They were inedible, bland and oily. The Punjab eggplant was very mushy looking. Could not get the smell out of my house. Blech!
matt on November 27th, 2007

i tried their Peas Paneer & Basmati Rice and thought it was completely devoid of flavor. I am truly shocked and saddened (keep reading) at the ingredient list being so small, and like Jackie wrote – I also know what all those ingredients are. that said, i wish It could have at least been more salty than it was. rarely do you come across something so wonderfully lacking in chemicals, which i completely appreciate! It gives more “natural” selections a little bit of a bad name when the last ingredient is “herbs&spices” when i couldn’t name one I actually tasted. My fingers are crossed that the Vegetable Supreme & Basmati is better.
Crazie Eddie on September 30th, 2008

I loved Tasty Bite’s Punjab Eggplant (as well as the Bombay Potatoes and Kashmir Spinach) so much I’ve decided to buy Tasty Bite products in bulk. I admit I add a bit of Cayenne pepper because I like my food spicy. I found the flavors to be far better than the stuff in our one local curry house.
Michael Ducote on February 20th, 2009

I absolutely love Tasty Bite’s Punjab Eggplant. It makes an easy lunch or dinner entree with the addition of some rice or other vegetables. In other words it makes an excellent entree by itself or a sauce for other dishes. As to the statements of it being too oily (I strongly disagree, possibly this critic is not familiar with the consistency of eggplant ) ,or not salty enough or not spicy enough….I think these are a matter of taste and can easily be adjusted. I personally think that it is just right and the best eggplant entree in the market place! If somebody knows of one better I would seriously like to know what it is. I am always wary of a person’s opinion when they can criticize a product but cannot offer an alternative that they do love. I have also been very pleased with Tasty Bite’s other products with the exception of one of their Spinach dishes (Sorry I don’t remember the name of it). The flavor was very good but I found the sauce a little thin.
Masticator on September 11th, 2009

I kind of like the punjab eggplant. Its spicy and liquidy because well its pureed eggplant.
I will admit its likely to be a foreign flavor/consistency to American palates though.