Mountain House
Mountain House have been a leading supplier of freeze dried meals for over 40 years and are a leading brand in the US and are gaining popularity in the UK. Mountain House meals UK are made in Lancashire by European Freeze Dry.
Base Camp Food has a wide range of Mountain House Meals, all with free delivery to the UK. This includes main meals, breakfasts and desserts. We have a wide range of Mountain House vegetarian meals and I have been looking forward to taking the Vegetable Tikka and Rice out to lunch for a while!
During a few days of coastal walking in Cornwall, I stumbled across Vault Beach which provided a perfect lunch spot. My weapon of choice for this test was the Esbit 985ml Cookset which I was testing at the time
Packaging and Nutrition
The Mountain House Vegetable Tikka and Rice weighs in at only 112g making it lightweight and easy to carry. It comes in a tough pouch which can provides all the necessary protection for being tossed about in a pack.
For the weight, it has a relatively high calorie at 442 Kcal per 100g. Mountain House meals are prepared before they are freeze dried, meaning they have the original taste and texture when they are rehydrated.
The ingredients are mainly made up of tomato, rice, onion, peas, sweetcorn, pepper and cauliflower. This is in a Tikka sauce of garlic, ginger, lemon, coconut, tikka spices and coriander.
Preparation
All Mountain House meals are easy to prepare in the pouch…
Boil some water on your nearest Esbit 985ml Cookset!
Open the pouch by tearing above the zip lock and add approx. 400ml of boiling water to the pouch – give it a really good stir, making sure you get all the way to the bottom of the pouch!
Once stirred, simply seal the pouch at the top and set aside. I’d always recommend leaving freeze-dried meals for a little longer than suggested as it makes the rehydration perfect. All Mountain House Meals have this same ziplock on the pouch meaning they are very simple to prepare.
If you have managed to wait more than 10 minutes then it is time to tuck in! You can eat straight from the pouch (as I did) or serve in a bowl or mug.
The Taste
Mountain House meals are mainly very tasty and this one was no exception (thank goodness as I was particularly peckish!).
It rehydrated very well and all the pieces were tender and tasted like fresh vegetables. The benefit of freeze drying versus dehydrating means you get a great taste and texture and this meal tasted very fresh. I normally prefer the main pieces in the meal to be a decent bite size and my only slight gripe with this was the pieces are fairly small however this means you don’t get any hard, unhydrated pieces making it a pleasure to eat.
There is a great balance of curry and rice and the dish was very filling. I though the taste was superb, vegetable curry is a favourite of mine and this one has a really good balance of flavours and a nice amount of spice. The spice blend was well balanced and there was a good creamy, coconut(ty) flavour balanced with lemon and ginger.
Although small pieces, there was lot’s of cauliflower, totamtoes, peas and peppers and they really took on the flavours of the curry well. The Mountain House meals are a good portion size for one person and the meal really filled me up. Perhaps after a 12 hour mountain day, a little more would be needed but I would normally pop a pitta, naan or flour tortilla in and with that it would be plenty!
Final Verdict
Mountain House meals are always tasty and nutritious – this Vegetable Tikka with Rice was light to carry, easy to prepare and was really tasty with a great blend of spice and vegetables. Definitely recommended if you like curry, regardless of whether you are a vegetarian!
Mountain House meals are priced at £4.99 and come with free UK delivery