Chardonnay with Khichdi, Anyone?

8220;While in the West, we concentrate on the ingredients more than the style of cooking or sauces, here, I have to work the other way round,8221; says French wine sommelier Daniele Raulet Reynaud, who was in the Capital to try her hand at pairing dhaba cuisine and wine at the Claridges hotel. 8220;Chilli is a definite no-no. It kills the flavours of the wine. So, the pairing has to done keeping in mind the spices, the aromas,8221; she says. While the standard rules 8212; white wine with fish and seafood and red wine with red meats 8212; operate here as well, it8217;s the spice or the chilli factor which poses the challenge for any sommelier. So she paired dhaba meat with the French full bodied reds like Cotes du Rhone 2004 and Cotes du beaune villages 2002, a combination that was well received. 8220;Your cuisine is heavy. So full bodied wines with spicy undertones tend to work well,8221; she adds.

High-end restaurants and hotels often promote such experiments as their clientele comprises foreigners who are wine connoisseurs and explorers of Indian food as well. Says Rajesh Khanna, Food and Beverage manager at Chutney, Metropolitan Nikko, where French wines were paired with Rajasthani, Punjabi platters and soon enough Bengali, 8220;We have a lot of foreign clients who like such combinations. But Indians are also beginning to appreciate it.8221;

Subhash Arora of the Delhi Wine Club says there8217;s a long way to go. 8220;For Indians, this is a novel concept. Only wine lovers can appreciate this sort of a pairing. For the conservative Indian, the lassi is still the preferred accompaniment.8221; Arora has been part of many such pairings, including New World like Chilean and Spanish, and even French. 8220;Royal cuisines like Lucknawi that are more aromatic and low on chilli factor work well with the wines,8221; says Ranveer Singh Brar, executive chef of Claridges. 8220;The astringent factor helps to taste the wine better.8221; On the whole, north Indian food is preferred to south Indian for such pairings as the latter is high on chilli.

Prasanjit Singh, Food and Beverage manager at Aangan, the Indian joint of Hyatt, says he needs to tweak traditional recipes a bit so they can be paired up. 8220;At Aangan, we insist the flavours have to be subtle, and the dishes are more experimental, somewhat like fusion.8221; Case in point? Tandoori chicken with lettuce and parmesan dressing, cashew potato cake8230;you get the drift.

But then, with a huge vegetarian population, what do the dal makhani and the matar paneer lovers do? 8220;In the West, it8217;s easier for vegetarians as they allow for chicken stock or base. Here however, since vegetarians dishes are pure, high tannin wines work well,8221; says Brar. Offers Reynaud, 8220;Paneer with its lactic acid content works well with the Chardonnay8217;s yeasty, buttery feel. Adding lemon to the food also gives it the freshness and crispness that goes well with the wines.8221; Then there8217;s clash of the worlds. Old world wines are thought to be more complex while new world are easier and light, making it easy to go along with the Indian dishes. 8220;All those rules are passe. Even French wines are becoming more contemporary now,8221; says Reynaud. Also, Indians like a bit of sweetness, so champagne, Gewurtztraminer, with floral and delicate flavours work well.

But will the marriage work? Most Asian countries like China depending on the region, Japan, Indonesia, even Vietnam, have met with success, owing to their subtle flavours but Indian cuisine, say experts is an aggressive partner. 8220;The real success,8221; says Arora, 8220;would be when people start it at home, rather than at hi-end restaurants.8221;