The great thing about Indian cuisine, apart from the fact that it is so darn tasty and fattening, is that it has universal appeal and everyone can relish it every once in a while.
Recently while in Singapore for the World Gourmet Summit 2009 I managed to squeeze in two visits to the local Indian restaurants.
The first one was Rang Mahal at the Pan Pacific hotel where I was welcomed by a comely young lass, Melanie. Not only was she a true foodie, she was making an active effort to understand the various dishes and also how they would pair with wines. The food at Rang Mahal is mostly classic authentic Indian but the presentation has made some progress since Indian shores. They hosted the famed Atul Kochhar during the World Gourmet Summit and I am sure it would have been fun to work your way through the wine and haute-Indian cuisine menu with wines and black currant raita. Few chefs can pull off such exquisite menus which can pair ever so effortlessly with wines.
The same evening, I managed to catch dinner with the leading Indian chef of Singapore, Milind Sovani, the man behind Song of India. He was initially behind Rang Mahal till he moved on to greener pastures. The restaurant reminds me of what London does to Indian cuisines, accentuate service while simplifying the process of ordering and working your way through what can be for many, a complicated meal of kebabs, spices, breads, curries and courses. He has one of the largest wine lists in Singapore, definitely the largest for an Indian restaurant. He doesn?t keep any Indian wines and makes no bones about it: the clients decide what they drink and Indian wines are the best way to scare them away it would appear.
Moving on, the one outlet I didn?t manage to get to is called Yantra. The new chef there is Akhil Prabhu, a personal friend. I have tremendous belief in his cooking prowess (being ex-ITC, Indian food should come naturally to him) and, post his foreign stints, with arms tattooed anew, he has taken (momentary) refuge in Singapore where he will be conjuring up quite a few delicacies I believe. But he hasn?t forgotten his modesty and is taking things slowly, one step at a time. I look forward to what he pulls out of his chef hat. Yet another reason to visit this absolutely hedonistic cleaner-than-an-operation-theatre city of a country and revel in its many gastronomic delights.
Meanwhile, back to wine and Indian food: Singapore showed me some novel pairings. Pinot Grigio is a known match for Indian food but the potential of a Roero is coming to the front, especially from high end producers like Vietto. Other whites that are top contenders are the Viognier and the lovely Gr?ner Veltliner from Austria. This last one in fact is the dark horse and I await a lot from it in times to come. Then of course, there is the Torrontes from La Salta in the north of Argentina; a wine that is tasty and aromatic and mostly yummy.
In the red department, the lighter fruitier styles are winning hands down. From Barbera to rich Valpolicella from Italy, a good Gamay or Pinot from France to Kiwi reds. Aged Tempranillo from Spain can be a great match, with its hint of oxidative notes. That aside, a lovely grape is the Sanct Laurent from Austria, which may remind you of Pinot Noir. Sherry as a wine can marry and match Indian food but I will elucidate on that in a separate piece; the wine deserves more than just a passing mention. Meanwhile, if you are in Singapore and feel the home food pangs come on, these three places would be my preferred Meccas of magical food and wine.
The writer is a sommelier