Saturday was special for many reasons. Half a day at school, less homework, more time to finish it, and the next day was Sunday. But there was yet another reason to look forward to Saturday afternoon. Maggi. Delicious noodles, nothing close to the Chinese version, that came in two flavors to suit the Indian palate – Masala and Chicken. Strangely, the “Masala” was marked in red while the “Chicken” was marked in Green! I was allowed to have Maggi noodles for lunch.
That ad whose wordings changed from time to time; so did the models. But the theme of hungry children coming home to steaming cups of Maggi Noodles with colourful vegetables popping out of the bowls remained the same. As did the catchy tune. Try singing it:
"Something something something something,
Something something something something,
Some-thing some-thing some-thing,
Maggi Maggi Maggi!!"
The best part about Maggi was that it was as tasty as it was made to seem on TV. Unlike other products which promised much and delivered little, Maggi stuck to its word - Easy to make; good to eat. But still, some people ruined this simple dish with their unwanted ingenuity. My heart bled when I saw people giving it a south Indian touch by seasoning it with turmeric, chana dal and mustard!
Boil one and a half cups of water, add chopped beans and carrot and peas, cook for two minutes, and then add the noodles followed by the masala. Wait for another two minutes and what have we! Yummy Maggi noodles, ready to be devoured! As simple as that. The first helping is good; the second even better. The remaining strands of noodles have absorbed the tasty soup and have become thicker and more succulent! Slurp!!
There has to be some secret ingredient in the Masala that makes Maggi so irresistible. I don’t care what it is, but I hope they retain it!
Few products have dominated the Indian market like Maggi has. Other brands have come and gone, some have stayed, but Maggi rules the instant noodles and instant food market in India. Long live Maggi noodles!
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12 comments:
I want Maggi now !! :)
Many people would be surprised about how filling Maggi can be. Especially when you add the beans, carrot, peas mixture (I can see the bowl now !). I have had the privilege of having them a number of times (thanks to you :) ), for lunch, brunch, breakfast, dinner, snack, "nacchu thinni", and I can say with certainty that it beats all other instant foods (including the ready-to-eat series by MTR, like Bisi Bele Bath, etc )by quite a distance.
Sethu
I am thrilled that I have managed to make my husband an ardent fan of Maggi noodles!
To set the record straight, I have to add that he is exaggerating when he says I have fed him Maggi for breakfast, lunch, brunch and dinner!
I do cook a lot of things other than Maggi!! :-))
I am amazed by the fact that you are able to pick such topics to write, which everybody can relate to. Kudos for that!!!
Maggi!!!, what can I say?. For a guy who, not too long ago was simply incapable of making out the difference between toor dal and whatever the other dal was, Maggi is a life saver!!! Coupled to this is the all too familiar foe called "laziness", which, prevents me from trying out all the cool recipes that my mom so painstakingly typed it out and sent it to me. More often than not I fall back on Maggi to satisfy my hunger. Its simple yet delicious. Not too long ago I used to brag about how well I cooked Maggi to my mom and sis when I called them to talk about my cooking accomplishments!!!!
Well the situation has improved a great deal now, but Maggi will always have a special place in my stomach and heart!!!!
Raghu
Hehehehe... :)) very interesting comment Raghu!
It's no surprise that all the Indian stores here have plenty in stock for lazy bachelors to buy and satiate their hunger pangs!
"toor dal and whatever the other dal"!!! Don't even attempt cooking!! :))
Gosh, I'm hungry...reading all about Maggi and food! I don't watch much TV these days but that jingle of Maggi, I can recall before you say 'noodles'! Perhaps that was their advtg. strategy? :)
Hey Ravi,
Good to have you back!
However good the ad, after the initial buy, the product has to speak for itself. After that, it's just word-of-mouth publicity that takes it forward. That's what happened with Maggi Noodles I think.
When you're marketing a good product, you don't need to spend crores on cricketers & film stars to model for you, do you?
Nice article,
The thing is for most of us to retain the liking to any food, we have to stop eating it once in a while.
Although I cook pretty well, the end of semester is pretty crazy,
I used to eat maggi a lot, got so damn bored of it, I didnt eat it for 6-8 months, and then u eat it again its like u have a totally new and great feeling.
ps. When u add a lot of veggies to it, adding a pinch of spice (literally a pinch of salt + chilli powder) really pushes up the taste believe me ull like it, if u like maggi. I have tried lots of other recipes with maggi, being an ardent fan of it, most of the recipes were pretty good.
Thanks Vijay.
You are right. You relish a dish better when you haven't had it in a long time.
Also, adding a pinch of salt gives Maggi a better taste. Haven't tried adding chilli powder though. Must try it the next time.
JYOTHIKA'S TAKE ON MAGGI & CRICKET:
You can see the following message behind maggi 2 minutes noodles pack:
Step 1: boil one cup of water
Step 2: as soon as ganguly goes for batting, put the noodles in the boiled water and add the tastemaker.
Step 3: stir till ganguly is on the field.
Step 4: As soon as ganguly is back in pavilion, your noodles r ready to eat.
Thanks, Gowri.
Absolutely agree with you, 100% !!
Maggi has loads of fans all around... but I don't like these maagis.. being a bachelor staying away from my parents, experimenting on cooking -- I tried this maagi some 2-3 times, but -- love to go back to rice, smbar or dal...
I guess I'm the only one who don't like maggi, but for sure I like hte tune of the ad...
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