Saffron Kitchen review: We try out Chesterfield's Meals on Wheels service offering Asian-inspired cuisine

In 2020, the Association received a Big Lottery - Reaching Communities Grant and Tesco Bags of Help COVID-19 Communities Fund to launch the Saffron Kitchen project. The Association collaborated with Rural Action Derbyshire in their project 'Feeding Derbyshire' to deliver meals to the community.

Initially, the project was aimed at providing meals for elderly and vulnerable members and carers. The success of the Saffron Kitchen project has been such that the service area has now been extended to everyone in the community who wishes to use it. The income generated from public orders has helped the Association to deliver meals to vulnerable members of the community.

Every week they release a new menu, and you can order for Monday / Wednesday / Friday, with the meals made on the same day they are delivered. You get to choose from two options, one seems to be more British-focused and then also an Asian-inspired meal. One of the options is always vegetarian too and the meals also come with a small dessert.

I placed my order on Thursday, for their Friday meal option and delivery. I chose both options, one for me and one for my daughter. Option 1 was Paneer Tikka with Naan and Option 2 was Chicken and Leek pie.

The meals are priced at £6.50 each and delivery is £1.50, although you can collect if you wish. With the increase in prices at supermarkets, I think the price offers good value for money.

Friday came, and delivery was promised to be between 12.30 and 2pm - Saffron Kitchen kept their promise and delivered with a smile and on time, and I could smell the paneer tikka through the well-packaged bags!

I’d love to have eaten it for lunch, but I had promised my daughter that we would be trying the food out together… and she loves a pie!

When I got home with my daughter we had a look through the bags, a container each for the main meals, two pots of fresh fruit for dessert, a bag for some fresh naan bread and a little pot with what looked like a paneer tikka kebab.

My main meal was the tikka paneer - now, I do love a tikka masala, but apart from small sides with a bit of paneer and spinach in, I’ve never had a tikka main course made with paneer. The meal was pretty substantial, it came with chunks of paneer cheese in a tikka sauce, two paneer kebabs and naan bread. The smell of this dish was delightful, with garam masala and turmeric taking over the room.

The paneer cheese was soft and tender, it gave just enough bite to give it some substance. The sauce covering all of the paneer was creamy and the spice, while not overpowering, definitely let you know it was there. The consistency of the sauce was perfect, sticking to the cubes of paneer, but there was enough left over to dip those cubes back in after you had taken a bite… as well as for the naan. There were also slices of onion and peppers, which gave some much-needed texture to the dish.

The paneer kebabs had a more focused heat from the spice. There was no sauce on these, but the cubes of cheese had been seasoned with tandoori spices and fried to give a crispy exterior. The naan bread was soft and ready to mop up the outstanding tikka sauce.

Overall, I was incredibly impressed by the paneer tikka meal - I was worried I might miss some meat on my plate, but I didn’t at all. The paneer had the perfect texture to make sure you didn’t feel like you were missing out.

The chicken and leek pie didn’t come with any sides, like the paneer tikka meal - but it didn’t have to. The slice of pie was large, and when I took it out of the takeaway container I was taken aback by how much chicken was inside.

For me, pies are the ultimate comfort food but I only got to try a bit, as my daughter refused to let me have anymore… but I can say that it was superb. I am a bit of a pie snob, as there are a few local places that have some great pies which I thoroughly enjoy, and they are definitely an upgrade on the Fray Bentos pies I was brought up on.

For me, pies are the ultimate comfort food. The crust was crispy with the perfect colour, and it was absolutely stuffed with filling. Moist chicken covered in a creamy sauce with a hint of tarragon, plenty of leeks which are one of my favourite vegetables and even a few carrots in there to give a bit of texture. As for my daughter’s comments on the pie - “Nice”. Well, what more could you want from an 11-year-old?

For dessert, we got a pot of fruit each - each pot filled with apples and grapes. Perfect after a filling meal.

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from a ‘Meals on Wheels’ service, but whatever expectations I had of Saffron Kitchen, they blew it out of the water. I only have positive things to say about the food and the service, from the smile at my front door on delivery to the incredible food. It’s definitely worth a try, but not only for the food, but to support the causes they are helping in our local area.