Shalini products, whose motto is "ultimate
value, everyday," translated into French
for the vast market there for Indian food as
"valeur finale, journalier," which means
pretty much nothing.

Bhadran moong - sweet and savoury green gram -
quite sweet, a brief hit of heat on the
finish. I couldn't place the aroma and taste
exactly except that there seemed to be a
meaty aspect in addition to the expected
mung bean flavor. I kind of liked these.
P.S. I sort of placed the mystery taste -
seemed to be a tiny amount of coriander and
sage, just enough to impart an impression
of barbecue. P.P.S. I found this particular
product very laxative.

Moong dal - I thought these would be like
the above, but they had a harder texture and
rather less appeal in general, being pallid in
flavor and appearance. Reminded me more than
anything else of potato chip crumbs. These
too were on the laxative side, but not nearly
so much. Something in the spice mixture must
make the other more irritating.

Banana wafer (spicy) - out of the package a
pizzalike aroma, not very Indian, but the slices
had a promising redness - they looked as if they
had been completely dredged in that 30-50K red
chile powder. I popped a handful in my mouth and
was disappointed to find the dominant flavor was
in fact tomato - there was an undertone of spice
but little if any chile presence. Not unpleasant
but not nearly so nice as the ones from Gujarat,
see below.

Garvi Gujarat products

Yellow banana wafers (plantain chips) - these
things are excellent, taste like fresh made,
and supposedly only 20 mg sodium per serving.
I couldn't stop eating them; no idea what made
them so moreish.

Spicy banana wafers - as above, a little
saltier, your standard masala (think the
way an Indian grocery smells) with a mild
tingle - altogether pleasant, but in the
future I'll stick with the regular ones.

Sing bhujiya - spicy coated peanuts - quite
different from the Kemchho, with a green sagey
taste. A wonderful almost effervescent feel in
the mouth. Rather hot, the heat creeping up and
peaking a few seconds after the swallow. Very
tasty, but I think I prefer the more classic
other version.

Tai Sun Treatz wacky cheese - these are pretty
ordinary cheese-powder-coated potato chips; the
notable thing is that the package claims that
each serving has only 47 mg of sodium. Enquiring
minds read the fine print and discover that the
serving size is 10 g. about 1/3 ounce. People
apparently snack more modestly in Malaysia and
Singapore than elsewhere.
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