Prawns Kadhi
Marks & Spencer, Prawn Kadhi
£5.99, 400g
Very nicely put together. The prawns are perfect, fresh and tasty. The sauce is spicy but delicate. Very good.
5 stars
Rice
Waitrose, Nine Jewel
£2.29, 350g The texture of this rice is beautiful. It's clearly a very good quality rice. Lovely.
5 stars
Onion bhaji
Tesco Finest
£1.59 for 4
A super, golden colour. Almost perfect in terms of flavour and texture. I'm going to give this top marks as it's that good.
5 stars
Chicken korma
Somerfield, with Rice
£2.75, 450g
Sweet and well flavoured. The consistency's spot on and the flavours are good. Could do with coriander and rose water - if I'm being fussy.
4 stars
Bombay potato
Asda
£1.49, 100g
Very, very good consistency. Too much chilli and it's missing the all-important curry leaves, but the quality is superb.
4 stars
Chicken Madras
Waitrose
£3.59, 400g
A nice madras. The flavours are good, really good, and it's the closest of the lot to an actual madras.
4 stars
Lamb rogan josh
Waitrose
£3.29, 350g
The correct flavour proportions. It's well cooked, the lamb is well done and it has a good sweetness. If I am being pedantic, it's too sweet.
4 stars
Chicken biryani
Waitrose, with Chicken
£3.39, 450g
A good, powerful, dry, raw flavour which is correct for biryani. Not bad at all.
4 stars
Lamb biryani
Selfridges, with lamb
£2.10 per 100g
The lamb is well done and well cooked. The flavours are getting there - very close, but not quite perfect.
4 stars
Mango chutney
Tracklements
£2.60, 310g
Pureed mango, very fresh and very, very tasty. It tastes incredibly authentic.
4 stars
Mango chutney
Harvey Nichols
£4.50, 320g
A chunkier version of that pureed one - equally tasty. This has a very Mumbai flavour profile.
4 stars
Garlic and coriander naan
Newbury Philips, organic
£1.59 for 2, Wholefoods, 020 7368 4500
It should not be pressed. Some people do it. I don't know why though. It's not really a naan.
4 stars
Prawns dopiaza
Asda, Food To Go King Prawn Dopiaza
£3.50, 450g
This isn't a notably classic prawn dish - but it tastes homemade. The prawns are very good. Comfort curry.
4 stars
Pilau rice
Morrisons, Pilau
89p, 300g
Nicely cooked, beautiful flavours. Good use of cloves and these mix well with the spice.
4 stars
Rice
Marks & Spencer, Jewelled Rice
£1.99, 300g
Nice flavour, good quality rice and well prepared. It's not easy to make instant rice taste this nice.
4 stars
Chicken korma
Selfridges
£2.10 per 100g
The flavours aren't bad. The chicken isn't bad either. It certainly has the right ingredients to qualify as a korma but it's not perfect by any means.
3 stars
Chicken jalfrezi
Selfridges
£2.10 per 100g
The chicken is by far the best but it's not jalfrezi. I'm not sure these ingredients are correct, but at least it tastes like a proper curry.
3 stars
Bombay potato
Somerfield
£1.20, 280g
A nice dish. The potato should be cooked a touch more but it's got a proper aloo flavour and it's spiced well.
3 stars
Lamb rogan josh
Marks & Spencer
£3.99, 350g
This is a lovely colour. But where are the cinnamon and rose petal flavours? Again, a good curry but not quite a rogan josh.
3 stars
Chicken tikka masala
Iceland
£1.50, 400g
It's OK. Nice and sweet, the colour's right, the flavours are good. The chicken is cooked correctly, too.
3 stars
Chicken tikka masala
Asda, Food To Go
£2.68, 450g
Good chicken but it needs something tart to cut through the sweetness - maybe a lemon? Rich colour and strong flavours.
3 stars
Meat samosa
Somerfield, with Lamb
49p each
The pastry is nice and crisp on this one. A few too many bubbles but it's good. The mixture itself is very tasty.
3 stars
Selfridges, with Chicken
75p each
The pastry is soggy and it must be crisp to work. The mixture is definitely the nicest though. Good, solid flavours.
3 stars
Prawn Makhani
Tesco Finest King Prawn Makhani
350g, £3.49
Somewhat spicy. Too much salt for a prawn dish. The prawns are OK - quite a good dish.
3 stars
Mango chutney
Tesco Finest with Apricot & Coriander
£1.49, 300g
Quite strong , rather acidic for a chutney instead of spicy and sweet. Not bad though.
3 stars
Onion bhaji
Waitrose
£1.69 for 6
The flavour is nice, it's just been overcooked. The spice is good and I can taste the mustard.
3 stars
Garlic and coriander naan
Marks & Spencer
£1.99 for 2
The flour seems a little off, but otherwise it's not a bad naan. Quite strong - good for soaking up juices.
AND THE MEALS OUR MICHELIN-STAR CHEF DID NOT RATE
Chicken Madras
..............Somerfield, with Rice
£2.80, 450g
Awful is an understatement. The spices are completely raw. Offensive.
Chicken jalfrezi
Sainsbury's Taste the Difference with Rice
£2.99, 500g
Generic brown sauce over generic white meat. No flavour. The chilli, just burns.
Chicken jalfrezi
Iceland
£1.50, 400g
It doesn't look great which is quite key with curries. Wholly uninviting. There's little flavour. Pretty bad.
Chicken Tikka Masala
Patak's
£1.49, 540g
Nondescript food. The spicing is all wrong, it's been mixed badly and the chicken may have actually been steamed! Steamed? 'Tikka' means 'grill'!
Chicken Tikka Masala
Marks & Spencer
£3.59, 350g
The tikka has gone under the grill too long which makes it go 'gluck' in your mouth. The flavour was probably good prior to that.
Bombay potato
Waitrose
£1.79, 300g
Tough, tough potato and no flavour in here. The spicing is correct, it's just badly made. I'm trying but it's really not very good.
Bombay potato
Sainsbury's
£1.49, 300g
An odd one. It seems as if the potato and sauce have been cooked separately and then added to each other. They just don't blend.
Prawn masala
Sainsbury's Taste The Difference King Prawn Masala
£2.99, 400g
I think this contains colourings. It's not a brilliant dish, well not compared to the competition anyway.
Onion bhaji
Selfridges
75p each
Too tough. The onion has been over-caramelised. Not brilliant.
Mango chutney
Waitrose
£1.19, 350g
This is a jam not a chutney. Spiceless and very sweet indeed. Odd.
Garlic and coriander naan
Newbury Philips, organic
£1.59 for 2, Wholefoods, 020 7368 4500
It should not be pressed. Some people do it. I don't know why though. It's not really a naan.
Lamb rogan josh
Tesco Finest
£3.40, 100g
The oil is rancid. It has ruined the dish. Bad for you and tasteless.
Basmati rice
Tesco Finest Basmati
£1.39, 300g
This is parboiled rice filled with preservatives and that's why it smells so peculiar.
Chicken korma
Patak's, with Basmati Rice
£1.45, 540g
Absolutely insipid. Nothing to it whatsoever. Korma is meant to be mild, bordering on bland, but this is ridiculous.
· Chef Atul Kochhar blind-tasted all the ready-meals this month. All Observer Food Monthly taste tests are tested blind.
