Following on from last month’s post about matching wine and Chicken Tikka Masala, I thought we could stick to the ‘Curry House’ themed dishes. So this week is the big one: Vindaloo. How on Earth, I hear you shout, is it possible to match such a spicy curry with wine? Well, it’s possible. First a note from Vivek about Vindaloo. Did you know that it was the Portuguese who first pickled their meat in wine vinegar, chillies and garlic to preserve it on the journey to colonise India. When they reached Goa, the mixture was then cooked up and named Vindalho – vinho meaning wine vinegar and ahlos meaning garlic – now the famously hot Vindaloo which is usually served with an ice-cold lager on hand. Our wine buyer, Laurent Chaniac, recommends a beautiful Italian Sauvignon Blanc with delicate acidity to balance out all the vinegar in the dish. If all those chillies are just too hot for you though, try a spoon full of sugar on your tongue washed down with some water – it works!

Tags: chilli, lager, Laurent Chaniac, Sauvignon Blanc, spice, Vindaloo, Vivek Singh 
Author: Alison

You may have seen ‘paneer’ appear on our menus on a regular basis but what is it? Paneer is the Indian version of set cottage cheese, made by separating  the whey from the milk by the addition of lemon juice to curdle it. When the whey is separated the solids are collected in a muslin cloth and tied and pressed under a heavy weight for a few hours until the solids set. It is widely available in supermarkets.
On its own, paneer can be quite bland but it is widely used in Indian cooking a vegetarian dish and when carefully spiced can be a fabulous alternative to meat

Tags: cheese, chilli, ingredients, paneer, vegetarian 
Author: Alison