Can Indian Food Go With Wine ?

Wine is the services drink in India. There was a time good wines had to be imported from abroad and cost a pile of money, but now good wines are grown in India and it is possible to get a bottle of Indian made wine that can be refreshing. But, wine by tradition is a European drink and the food that goes with it is also Western. But there is a change and some experimentation has shown that perhaps Indian food could also serve as an appetizer or a starter with the wine served. Generally Indian food amongst all Asian cuisine is perhaps the hardest to match with wine, since the background of Indian food is a complex layering of hot spices that may well drown the taste of the wine. There is an old saying that defines the foods that go with Wine. It says something like this ‘Whitewine with fish and red wine with meat’. This is like a Sloka(verse) from the culinary Gita, but it doesn’t work in India. So what is to be done? Can we not match Indian food with wine? The point to be borne in mind is that the matching of food with wine needs to be done in such a way that the flavor of both i.e. the wine and the food is retained. Indian cuisine is not perfect with wine as too many ingredients go into its preparation, unlike the western food that is generally bland. An example is the powerful chilly dishes that are likely to knock the flavor of any wine of the pedestal. Indian citrus flavored dishes tend to put wine in the background and the curd and yoghurt based dishes give a different taste and the flavor of wine would go. Thus it is a challenge to pair Indian food with wine, yes a challenge but not difficult or impossible. Individual tastes also matter and what is good for the goose may not be good for the gander. Some Indian connoisseurs who are regular wine drinkers do feel that white wine is fabulous with Indian food. So what are the foods that go down well with wine? Gourmets and chefs feel that tandoore, smoke cooked dishes go well with an oaky chardonnay (white) or an oaky Merlot. A mildly spiced curry if you are in the mood for one will go with a Chenin Blanc. New revolutionary tastes and experimentations are on and people have tried a non spicy samosa that eternal Indian dish along with red wine. Have a sauce, both white and red with it and it goes well with red wine. Can we have an axiom for Indian food and wine? One of my friends from the Hyatt coined this. He said ‘LightIndian food with light wine and richer dishes with richer wines’

But at the end of the day, what matters is the individual taste, more than anything else. People from the subcontinent do not relish bland ham or grilled chicken with wine; they would much better prefer a Tandoore chicken tikka with the wine. I have tried it and it tastes great, both for the wine and the Indian tikka.