Wine Pairing with Indian Food + recipes
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Top row (from left): Pinot Blanc, Indian Bay Leaves, Turmeric.
Middle row (from left): Mace and Nutmeg, Cabernet Franc Rose.
Bottom row (from left): Green Cardamom, Lagrein.
Styled by Styled by Kacie Ratner and Alex Malamud. Chronicle photo by Craig Lee
If you ask about which wine to pair with Indian food, expect a one-word answer. Usually Gewurztraminer. Perhaps Riesling. Maybe Syrah.
An entire culture's cuisine to be paired with a single varietal? Ridiculous.
Among Asian cuisines, Indian food probably has the greatest notoriety for being hard to match with wine. Its complex layering of spices and chile heat makes for a tricky challenge.
Let's begin with the obvious: Beer makes for an excellent pairing with most Indian food. (Which beer, and which food, is grist for another day.) If that's your preference, go with it. Whiskey, as enjoyed in India with hors d'oeuvres, is fine, too.
For the wine lover, though, finding an ideal match is more complicated.
It will not be found with Gewurztraminer. That varietal's spicy profile can work every now and then, but it usually collides with the nuances of Indian food. Almost every Indian recipe begins with a blend of spices, so our challenge was to find out which spices warm up to which wines.
Cardamom Nankaties. Styled by Kacie Ratner and Alex Malamud. Photo by John Lee, special to the Chronicle
We called on Ruta Kahate, an Indian culinary teacher and author based in the East Bay, for guidance. The three of us met to consider her list of the 10 most crucial spices in Indian cuisine -- mustard seeds, cardamom, turmeric, cumin, black pepper, mace/nutmeg, ginger, bay leaves, cloves and cinnamon. Cayenne we put in a class of its own, making 11. Then we devised a list of about 80 wines -- as obvious as Syrah and as esoteric as Muller-Thurgau.
Kahate pointed out that almost all spices are used in combination, especially in what's known as "curry" -- which is a range of specific spice blends, or masalas. Northern Indian spice mixes can be cooked in a base such as yogurt or light cream, while Southern Indian masalas are sometimes cooked with coconut milk. Sauces also might contain acidic elements such as tomato or tamarind juice. And don't forget the great quantities of fresh ginger, garlic and onions that are essential to Indian fare.
Rather than seek out specific wines to match specific dishes, we decided to think in terms of flavor families -- mostly based on sauces. The dominant flavors in Indian recipes often come from the sauce and spice rather than the main meat or vegetable.
Black-Eyed Peas in a Spicy Goan Curry. Styled by Kacie Ratner and Alex Malamud. Photo by John Lee, special to the Chronicle
In the end, we distilled Indian cuisine down to five sauce/spice groups:
1. Simple Spice. Dishes that rely on just a few spices, at most three, as seasoning.
2. Light Sauce. Lighter dishes, many of them with dried peas, beans and legumes such as lentil and garbanzo beans.
3. Heavy Sauce. The dishes most often called "curries," including popular cream-based picks such as tikka masala.
4. Tandoori. Marinated meats that have been roasted in a clay oven.
5. Fresh and Green. Dishes with fresh greens or herbs as a primary ingredient, such as the spinach-based saag paneer.
to read the entire article and wine suggestions and some of Ruta's great recipes including -
Black-Eyed Peas in a Spicy Goan Curry
and from Lachu Moorjani who owns Ajanta a favourite restaurant of ours now on Solano-
Plus recipes for Tandoori chicken, tandoori fish
click here:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/06/08/WIGOOQ59H11.DTL
Middle row (from left): Mace and Nutmeg, Cabernet Franc Rose.
Bottom row (from left): Green Cardamom, Lagrein.
Styled by Styled by Kacie Ratner and Alex Malamud. Chronicle photo by Craig Lee
If you ask about which wine to pair with Indian food, expect a one-word answer. Usually Gewurztraminer. Perhaps Riesling. Maybe Syrah.
An entire culture's cuisine to be paired with a single varietal? Ridiculous.
Among Asian cuisines, Indian food probably has the greatest notoriety for being hard to match with wine. Its complex layering of spices and chile heat makes for a tricky challenge.
Let's begin with the obvious: Beer makes for an excellent pairing with most Indian food. (Which beer, and which food, is grist for another day.) If that's your preference, go with it. Whiskey, as enjoyed in India with hors d'oeuvres, is fine, too.
For the wine lover, though, finding an ideal match is more complicated.
It will not be found with Gewurztraminer. That varietal's spicy profile can work every now and then, but it usually collides with the nuances of Indian food. Almost every Indian recipe begins with a blend of spices, so our challenge was to find out which spices warm up to which wines.
Cardamom Nankaties. Styled by Kacie Ratner and Alex Malamud. Photo by John Lee, special to the Chronicle
We called on Ruta Kahate, an Indian culinary teacher and author based in the East Bay, for guidance. The three of us met to consider her list of the 10 most crucial spices in Indian cuisine -- mustard seeds, cardamom, turmeric, cumin, black pepper, mace/nutmeg, ginger, bay leaves, cloves and cinnamon. Cayenne we put in a class of its own, making 11. Then we devised a list of about 80 wines -- as obvious as Syrah and as esoteric as Muller-Thurgau.
Kahate pointed out that almost all spices are used in combination, especially in what's known as "curry" -- which is a range of specific spice blends, or masalas. Northern Indian spice mixes can be cooked in a base such as yogurt or light cream, while Southern Indian masalas are sometimes cooked with coconut milk. Sauces also might contain acidic elements such as tomato or tamarind juice. And don't forget the great quantities of fresh ginger, garlic and onions that are essential to Indian fare.
Rather than seek out specific wines to match specific dishes, we decided to think in terms of flavor families -- mostly based on sauces. The dominant flavors in Indian recipes often come from the sauce and spice rather than the main meat or vegetable.
Black-Eyed Peas in a Spicy Goan Curry. Styled by Kacie Ratner and Alex Malamud. Photo by John Lee, special to the Chronicle
In the end, we distilled Indian cuisine down to five sauce/spice groups:
1. Simple Spice. Dishes that rely on just a few spices, at most three, as seasoning.
2. Light Sauce. Lighter dishes, many of them with dried peas, beans and legumes such as lentil and garbanzo beans.
3. Heavy Sauce. The dishes most often called "curries," including popular cream-based picks such as tikka masala.
4. Tandoori. Marinated meats that have been roasted in a clay oven.
5. Fresh and Green. Dishes with fresh greens or herbs as a primary ingredient, such as the spinach-based saag paneer.
to read the entire article and wine suggestions and some of Ruta's great recipes including -
Black-Eyed Peas in a Spicy Goan Curry
and from Lachu Moorjani who owns Ajanta a favourite restaurant of ours now on Solano-
Plus recipes for Tandoori chicken, tandoori fish
click here:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/06/08/WIGOOQ59H11.DTL
Comments
CookingMyWay says :
I watched a BBC show called Indian Food Made Easy last night that talked about Indian wines becoming popular... I'm looking forward to trying one as soon as I can find them around here...
shantihhh says :
Wine drinking in India is greatly on the rise. I have my doubts we'll see much of Indian wine in the US, sort of like lentils from India no longer being available-consumption is so high within India.
Rememeber the population of India's middle class i.e. is greater than the entire population of the US and Canada combined. Of course Indian beers are world class and a beverage of choice for many.
I have not seen Indian imported wines here in the SF bay Area and considering we have the largest Indian population in the US I would expect those wines to find their way here first but maybe not for many years, but who knows.
The Indian reds are quite nice IMHO. However Australian Shiraz is quite popular in Delhi and other large cities. I know :-)
shantihhh says :
BTW here are two that if you can find them:
Château Indage Ivy Chenin Blanc 2003 received commendations and the Grover La Reserve was rated as the Best New World Wine at the Decanter Awards at recent European competitions.
vikas kumar says :
Very good info n pics. We actually very rarely pair wine with our meals. As you've written, it's usually beer. Will start having wine more often now.
nisar253 says :
ALREADY WINE PAIRING WITH INDIAN FOOD IS BEING TRIED IN DIFFERENT 5 STAR HOTELS AND FEW YEARS BACK ONE OF THE COMPANIES WAS TRYING IT OUT WITH DUM PUKHT CUISINE .
"If you want happiness for a lifetime,learn to love what you do"
Wapite says :
Great information. I am stumped how to pair wine with Indian and Thai foods-thanks
Prezi says :
Hi that's an interesting blog you have up there. As you said, wine pairing with different cuisines is indeed a skill that is quite challenging. I have a few Indian friends out here and this is always a cause of concern when they call upon a dinner party. Right as Vikas said, it's almost always beer, but it would be great to taste Indian spicy food with a glass of vintage sip!
