THREE GUINEA PIGS AND A POUCH OF PALAK PANEER

A couple weeks ago, my father--who's originally from New Delhi, India--shoved an article in my hand that touted the merits of Indian pouch food. As an obsessed writer, I'm not always religious about reading my local paper, and often miss some interesting articles that have a culinary bent. It's good to know, however, that anything I do miss, my dad will save for me and present it later as a "food-related" gift; an ongoing theme between the two of us.

Eventually I got around to reading the piece, written by Douglas Brown (Denver Post)--a devotee of pouch food. He talked about "pouching" with his family and friends, and spreading the word to those near and far. Yet for me, the concept of eating food out of a bag hovers at a distance. Being from the cooking family that I am, I find it difficult to buy prepared anything, let alone Indian food, which can't come close to homemade if it arrives in a box--or really--in a silvery pouch within a box.

But because I'm a curious person, I could feel the early inklings of desire start to surface after reading Brown's review...

On a recent trip to Trader Joe's, I literally stumbled smack dab into their Indian boxed-food display. There staring me in the face were acrobatically-stacked rectangles of palak paneer (spinach and Indian-style cheese), chhole (spiced garbanzos) and other Indian delights. The colors on the packaging--some of my favorites--mustard yellows and ruby reds--got my attention, but then the nagging urge to try the food after reading that article also started pulling at me. Before I knew it I had snagged a box of palak paneer and sheepishly got in line, embarrassed that I had succumbed to buying a prepared food (who, at Trader Joe's would know--or even care--that I make most of my meals from scratch, anyway?!).

Soon after that trip to TJ's, I had a visit from my dad. He came over at lunch time, so I decided it was the perfect opportunity to sample the pouch food. He seemed game for such a plan. As I was snipping the top off the bag, the phone rang; it was my sister asking if I knew where our father was. Of course I did, he was with me ready to dig into the Indian spinach dish. When my sister got wind that a feeding was imminent, in no time she was at my front door, and soon the three of us were sitting at my bar ready to do an official "Mehta taste test."

We slipped the spoons into our mouths, rolled the palak from front to back on our palates, and bit into the paneer with cautious glee. I looked at my dad; he grunted with approval. I looked down the long stretch of formica ( I know, I'm not supposed to have that in my home) to see my sister's reaction; she raised her eyebrows and said, "This is pretty good." I, on the other hand, was harder to please. The flavor was quite authentic, but the texture was, well, too smooth for me.

For at least 15 minutes, the three of us dipped, tasted, commented on and critiqued our way through our first bag of Indian pouch food (along with some "fresh" dishes I served on the side).

To be honest, I think I had more fun being with my dad and sister, than I did eating something that slithered out of a hermetically sealed bag. But all in all it was a worthy experiment and I give Douglas Brown kudos for nudging me beyond my comfort zone.

Will I buy pouch food again? Perhaps. If I were in a pinch, lazy, or craving Indian food, would I keep a box hidden in my pantry? Quite likely.

I do know, however, that no one makes palak paneer quite like my dad. And it is from this high-standard benchmark that I compare all others...which at times, may fall just short of perfection.