Lays Wafer Style: 

Once upon a time there was Classic Salted. We all loved it. And then there used to be Magic Masala. Of which we only remember digging our fingers deep into the bag to get at the stray bits of chips at the bottom that we used to lick with such childlike satisfaction. And into this perfect world came Spanish Style Tango. And American Style Cream ‘n’ Onion. And Caribbean Style Something-Or-The-Other (Calypso, probably, or Sunset-Beach, going by all the clichés on display). And many others that we slowly lost track of. And with good reason too, considering that these variants were… just that: Variants that seemed to ride purely on novelty. We took the bait for a while, always thinking after we tried a new one that we would have been better off sticking to good ol’ Magic Masala.  

After having given us a faux-view of how the world eats its potato chips, Lays returned to territory closer to home, with Golguppa and Bhel flavours of their Chaat Street: by every beer drinker’s account, a howling success. What’s the deal with Wafer Style, then? I’ll put it this way: It reminds me of Pringles. (That long cylinder of perfectly cloned potato wafers that your uncle once brought a batch of when he came back from the US). And wafers that remind me of Pringles are wafers I need to eat. Remember all of the hardly-distinguishable Lays variants I was talking about? This one is quite different. And good. The texture is smooth, not the saw-toothed surface that Lays has gotten us used to. The chip itself is thinner and softer. The flavour is a lot subtler overall, and the Original Salted works well. The variants are, once again, ambitious: their ‘Hint Of Roasted Red Chilli With Coriander’ are good wafers, but they release the flavours of the chilli and the coriander in traces so slight that I had trouble just detecting them. 

Hafta says Give This A Shot. 
 

Maggi Sambhar Noodles: 

We’ve always welcomed the Indianisation of noodles, right from all those years ago rushing back from school straight to our dining table to slurp up another bowlful of Maggi noodles in less than the two minutes that it took to prepare (if we were to believe all the ads anyway). So much so that “Maggi” automatically meant noodles in our kitchens and our provision stores. As for authenticity, “Maggi” tasted very, very different from “Noodles”, but really, we couldn’t care less. Many disagreed, but I found even their recent attempt at converting chapathi-loyalists with their Atta-based noodles quite bearable.  

And then comes Maggi’s Sambhar Noodles: the commoditization of the South Indian’s mythical fetish for dousing everything he eats with a cup of sambhar. The doubts arose even as the first dissonant smells of boiling noodles and the sambhar masala’s spices wafted up from the cooking pan. Sure, the daal in the masala gives the concoction a taste that approaches sambhar, but that’s about the best thing I can bring myself to say about it. In one swell swoop, Maggi’s Sambhar Noodles has managed to give both sambhar and noodles a bad name, reputations that neither dish deserves, really. Even if you are a hungry singleton looking for a quick-fix weekday dinner willing to go extremely low on expectation, I exhort you not to try this. 

Hafta wants to know: Isn’t There A Money-Back Guarantee On This One? 
 

Ratings system: 

Where a complex mathematical formula based on variables such as how hungry I was, how much more money I’ve shelled out on foods that are making me fatter, and other more ineffable factors results in me telling you: 

You NEED to try this!

Give this a shot.

Ho. Hum.

Isn’t there a money-back guarantee on this one?

(Ashwin Raghu uses this column to let out steam about all of the snacks he keeps giving in to and then feels the urge to talk about. He needed a vent because his room-mate told him that he was tired of hearing his opinions. His views are Utopian, even hoping that some day, Hafta will actually start reimbursing him for all of the things he eats and then writes about. Until then, he’s holding back on buying that tin of beluga caviar.)

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