Lay's Chaat Street "Mint Chutney"

Frito-Lay

I think to truly appreciate these chips you have to have some knowledge of history of Pakistani or Middle Eastern food. I'm not completely out of the loop on this subject, after all I really enjoy chutney, but I can't say that I've ever tried a mint chutney in my life. Most of the chutney's that I've tried are more about fruity flavours, and are more like a fruit flavoured relish than anything else. So, my review of these mint chutney chips is coming from someone that's never tried mint chutney.

As a Canadian, opening this bag brought one thought into my head, the smell of dill pickle chips (a Canadian classic). I guess that makes sense since chutneys are pickled as well. Upon first bite the pickle flavour continues, but it's a little different. As the chip sits in your mouth a little longer there's still a pickle like flavour, but it's a little different, I'm assuming that it's mint, but I'm not sure. Then the back of your mouth is hit with a spicy burn that creeps its way up your mouth and down your throat. If you like spicy foods you'll probably enjoy this, I'm not a big fan of spicy foods, but the heat is fairly tolerable at first.

I can't compare these to mint chutney, since I've never tried it, but I can say that I don't really get a strong mint flavour out of these. I'm not sure if pickling mint kills the cool flavour you regularly get with mint, and if it does maybe these chips are dead on. I didn't mange to eat the entire bag in one go; in fact, I can't really manage more than three chips in a sitting, due to the spice. I'm not a huge fan of hot foods, but if you like hot foods and dill pickle chips, you'll really like these. If you're not a big fan of mint, you might still like these since I can't taste any mint at all.