Wine with Indian food

[macrosan]

eGullet UK is having a huge (21 people) get-together at the Tayyab restaurant in London next week. This is actually a Pakistani restaurant, and doesn't serve wine (whether for religious or commercial reasons I don't know). Tony Finch, who has organised the event, suggests we all bring our own wine, and has recommended Shiraz as a good match for this type of food.

The problem is that now everyone will bring Shiraz and that's likely to be boring. So I'd like an alternative suggestion or two. I have to admit that I generally drink (Indian) beer at Indian restaurants, and I can't think of a classic red wine that seems to fit. Maybe Chianti ?

So please make some suggestions. If your choice is obscure, some ideas on where I could buy it in London would also help. Thank you, folks, you might also change my drinking habits at Indian restaurants for ever

[tommy]

this should be interesting.

[Miss J]

I usually prefer really spicy, lychee-scented Alsatian gewurztraminer with Indian food. I find it complex enough to bear up to (most of) the flavours happening on my plate.

But then, I know nothing about wine so you're probably best not listening to a word I say.

[Stone]

Golden Eagle.

[Simon Majumdar]

Macrosan

Normally I would not have wine with Indian food.

But I shall be bringing along a couple of bottles

1) A Sauvignon Blanc - Bizarrely enough the "cats pee" aroma that is the hallmark of these ( particularly the New zealand ones ) compliments the lighter curries quite well

2) A Reisling - Again the hallmark "petrol" smell seems to work with tandoored food

I disagree with Tony, I have to say in that I find Shiraz entirely wrong with Indian/Pakistani food. it is way to jammy.

That being said, I am sure I shall help myself to a few glasses

S

[Suvir Saran]

The link below may be useful

What to drink?

[Ron Johnson]

I usually prefer really spicy, lychee-scented Alsatian gewurztraminer with Indian food. I find it complex enough to bear up to (most of) the flavours happening on my plate.

But then, I know nothing about wine so you're probably best not listening to a word I say. 

Miss J, you are right on. I also like Alsatian Rieslings, Gruner Veltliners, and if I feel the need for a red, I would choose a Sangiovese or cru-level Beaujolais because both have nice acidity, low tannins, and a refreshing quality that would pair favorably to some Indian dishes.

[Gavin Jones]

As I understand it there will be quite a bit of tasty grilled meat and dhals with a bitter/sour emphasis. With this in mind I was thinking of some less jammy reds. Mourvedre say.

I am foreswearing bottle blondes from Belgium temporarily. But might consider a Brunette from a monastery...

[macrosan]

Thanks for that link, Suvir. I did try to do a search myself, but mine didn't come up with that very useful thread. I don't know if I got it wrong or the search engine was having a bad day yesterday

And thanks everyone else. Now I know what Tony and Simon are bringing I think Alsatian Gewurtztraminer and Sangiovese sound like a good pair of bottles to bring. But I too intend to test the Finchian theory and sample someone lese's Shiraz

[Miss J]

I am foreswearing bottle blondes from Belgium temporarily.

Leffe is EVIL.

[Suvir Saran]

Keep us posted about the meal and the wines... This sounds like it will be a fun evening...

[tommy]

macrosan (and others),

this might be a great opportunity for everyone to try a few different wines with the dishes. it might be a good idea to ensure that at least enough of each type of wine is available for everyone (who's interested) to give them a shot. after that, we'll have 21 educated opinions on which go the best!

[Suvir Saran]

macrosan (and others),

this might be a great opportunity for everyone to try a few different wines with the dishes.  it might be a good idea to ensure that at least enough of each type of wine is available for everyone (who's interested) to give them a shot.  after that, we'll have 21 educated opinions on which go the best!

what a great suggestion!

[macrosan]

it might be a good idea to ensure that at least enough of each type of wine is available for everyone (who's interested) to give them a shot.

Tommy, you have to be clear on who is going to be there !!! Among others, Messrs Finch, Majumdar, Lynes, Magnolia, Scottf.....need I go on ? If any one of them gets within sniffing distance of a bottle, no-one else gets a shot. The laws of physics determine that there are not enough bottles of any given wine in existence for each of them to have a taste in one place on one evening

after that, we'll have 21 educated opinions on which go the best!

...and after a second look at even that partial guest list, I'm sure you now realize there is no chance of getting too many educated opinions and even less chance of any of them remembering the next day what their opinion was

Seriously though, Tommy and Suvir, I will link this thread into the Tayyab thread so everyone gets the idea. It would indeed be interesting to reach some conclusions. It's such a shame that Plotters super-educated nose won't be there with us

[Suvir Saran]

Seriously though, Tommy and Suvir, I will link this thread into the Tayyab thread so everyone gets the idea. It would indeed be interesting to reach some conclusions. It's such a shame that Plotters super-educated nose won't be there with us 

Look forward to the link... Have fun!

I am hoping at least someone will be sober enough to remember every detail....

And yes it is a shame that the famous nose for wine will not be with you.... Maybe the famous nose has enough understanding of some of the wines you drink to give their thoughts without having to be there....

Do tell us about both food and wine...and the fun conversations.. maybe even some pics? ?

[macrosan]

OK, I promised to post the results of the Tayyabian Wine-tasting Panel so I will. But what a disappointing crowd they were. Everyone was so intent on enjoying the food and drinking the wine that they paid scant attention to my very clear instructions that they were required to produce a report on the stuff. Humph. You just can't get the staff any more ...

So out of a total of 18 people at the New Tayyab in Whitechapel, only 5 people expressed a view on the wine. The votes were as follows:

Australian Shiraz - ONE pro

Alsatian Riesling - ONE anti

Alsatian Gewurtztraminer - ONE anti, TWO pro

Spanish Ribera de Duego - TWO pro

So thank you all for your help. I personally liked the Gewurtztraminer as a patio wine (what I would love to drink sitting on my patio on a warm summer evening) but felt it wasn't a complement to the food. My choice was the Ribera de Duego (red) found by Simon Majumdar at Oddbins !

At risk of taking up a lot of space in this thread, I thought you might be interested in the pre-set menu we were served (notes from Tony Finch) :-

Sizzling tandoori dishes on the hot griddle

marinated lamb chops (technically mutton I think)

chicken tikka

sikhi kebabs

tandoori fish - not salmon. I think it's coley they use

There were also pakoras.

Curries:

the lamb shank dish is called Nihari and in some Pakistani recipes it calls for shin of beef to be used. Actually the sauce on Tuesday was thinner than usual. It is usually more concentrated.

Brain Masala - They did this for us specially. It's not normally on the menu.

Dry Meat - this is the only curry they use ghee in. The curry house name for it is Boona Gosht

Kerala Dahl - the bitter gourds are keralas

Bindis - okra.I don't know what they call this dish

There were several types of bread. [including] ghee parathas and tandoori rotis.

To finish there were various sweets from their sweet centre next door.

Something we didn't have but which if you're organized you can order in advance is Raan- a whole marinated leg of lamb which is slow roasted for hours and which is decidedly NOT served pink.

It was amusing towards the end of the meal to hear Simon (a Bengali) and Fahro (definitely not a Bengali) arguing about not only the correct pronunciation of the names of dishes, but even the names of the dishes themselves