Wine with pav bhaji? According to chef Michael Swamy, it's possible

Gurgaon: Ever thought of pairing wine with mithai, chaat or even utthapam? Sounds weird but would taste quite scrumptious too assures chef and writer Michael Swamy, who has come out with a guide to food pairing. Swamy, who has trained at the prestigious Cordon Bleu culinary school in London, says cooking with wine is not just for the elites but could soon find its way into the kitchens of middle class families too. “So a staple lunch of aloo gobi could be washed down with a sweet and aromatic glass of Chenin Blanc or a Viognier. A full-bodied Chardonnay can be quaffed with vegetarian snacks like samosas, channa bhatura, pav bhaji or ragda pattice”, says Swamy. The chef was here recently to launch his book Guide to Pairing Indian Food and Wine been published by Om Books in association with Nine Hills from Pernod Ricard India. “It took me almost three months to come out with the book. why don’t we come up with a book that tells about the realm of wines,” says Swamy. Swamy, offers an assortment of Indian as well as continental food recipes, along with a wine pairing suggestion for each recipe. The book also includes some easy-to-cook snacks like spinach fritters and onion springs that can be cooked wine. “There are some Indian spices like clove and cinnamon that go well when cooked with wine,” says the chef. “Modern Indian cuisine is the next step. Only a few chefs like chef Atul Kochhar have been practicing it. Including wine in recipes with radically alter the dimensions of what we know as modern Indian cuisine and put Indian cuisine on the global culinary map,” says Swamy. Unlike countries in the west, wine has never been a part of traditional Indian cuisine. However, Swamy says “India is one of the countries which consumes the highest amount of Scotch. We’ve beaten the world.” Swamy in his book takes a holistic look at pairing of the flavours, textures and heat levels of Indian food, with wine. The slim tome details major wine varietals along with instructions on assessing the wines. “Every wine has a distinctive perfume or fragrance referred to as its’nose’, which is brought about by the type of grape used and the process of fermentation and aging” says Swamy who urges readers to looks for fresh fruit fragrances, earthy aromas and floral, herbal, grassy, spicy and peppery scents. “Until you show people the way, they will not know. When you start educating them about wines, it opens a whole new perspective,” says the chef who has described wine pairings with salads, lentils and legumes, paneer, biriyani and pulaos and even deserts like shahi tukda and shrikand. “If you look at our history, it has a long tradition of wine drinking. ‘Soma ras’ is mentioned even in the Rig Vedas,” points out Swamy who has previously conducted workshops on ‘Wine in Food’ However, he says he could not do much with wines on the Indian version of popular TV series MasterChef. The chef served as a food consultant for its first two seasons. “We can’t use much of wine on the show because it’s not supposed to be shown on national television. But I’ve shot myself cooking with wines,” says Swamy with a smile. Swamy has also done a show on Yahoo! with a new show on desserts to be aired soon. Also up next is a set of cookbooks. “With Nine Hills, six more books are in the pipeline, All with an Indian element, be it barbecue or other dishes,” Swamy says. PTI