This week, Value for Money samples four varieties of chicken curry

Balti House Balti Chicken Curry

€3.99 for 3550g, €11.40 per kg

HIGHS: It's made with 38 per cent top quality chicken breast. The onions are crunchy and the sauce is rich with a spicy kick that creeps up on you

LOWS:It will need to be supplemented with rice and is comparatively expensive. It's also quite salty and a 150g serving contains nearly a third of an adult's GDA of salt

VERDICT: Very good

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Cully & Sully Chicken Curry

€3 for 400g, €7.50 per kg

HIGHS: This is sweet and tomatoey with a subtle spiciness. Alongside the good quality chicken pieces are decent chunks of potato, chick peas, sweetcorn, onions and rice. It is the most substantial of the lot

LOWS: It's not the chicken that gives it substance as it's made with just 10 per cent meat

VERDICT: Top notch nosh

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Tesco Value Chicken Curry witth Rice

€1.25 for 300g, €4.16 per kg

HIGHS: Cheap. The sauce isn't terrible. Ingredient list is free of nasty-sounding additives

LOWS: Chicken was a little soft, the rice dry and almost entirely tasteless and we were pleased the portion size was so small

VERDICT: Poor

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Dunnes Stores Chicken Curry

€2.99 for 450g, €6.64 per kg

HIGHS: The sauce tastes like the sauce which might be ladled over chips in your local chipper – with meat added. Portion size is good, with 33 per cent chicken. While a long way from authentic, it’s not bad

LOWS: Some of the chicken was a bit grey and the sultanas a bit salty

VERDICT: Oddly pleasant

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