Curry & Wine: Which Wine Will Go With This Indian Dish?

What are the perfect wines to pair with India’s rich and varied cuisines? Indian Weekender has the answer.

Every week Chef Sid Chopra, owner of GOAT Restaurant in Auckland and Wine Enthusiast Timothy Giles are pairing wines with one of Sid’s succulent and contemporary Indian dishes.

Sid says: I understand that people look at this dish, at the ingredients and ask; ‘why would you put lamb, egg, chicken all in together, in one dish?’

I know it looks odd, I understand the reaction. But once you taste it, everything makes sense. The proteins, the textures, the flavours, come together. So deliciously.

Chicken Titar Pur this dish is deeply personal. During my college days in Delhi, this was the go-to meal. It was filling, full of bold flavours, and a staple for hungry students. To me, it represents the city itself—diverse, unexpected, yet somehow perfectly balanced.

So it makes sense for me that combining not just the ingredients, but the techniques that each ingredient needs to combine into this dish, work so well. A bit like Delhi its a surprise it does works so well!

Chicken Titar Pur is served as a main at GOAT and when he tried it, Timothy Giles was inspired to start this column for Indian Weekender.

Timothy says : I’ve never seen a dish like this and it confused me to be honest. I really didn’t know where to start with a wine match. I needed something fragrant, lasting enough to carry all these different proteins, rich to get lost in the gravy but its summer and it needs to be light too.

No.1 Rosé Brut NV is a sparkling wine made in Marlborough by the Le Brun family. Dad Daniel Le Brun is from Champagne and led NZ’s path into making fine sparkling wines. Now his children Virginie and Remi have taken over. The Rosé is made 100% of the red grape Pinot Noir, the pretty pink colour in the glass, gives a hint of the combination of depth and delicacy in this wine which helps it pair food so well.

Most weeks we will pick two wines with Sid’s dishes, but we begin with just one. Because, for my birthday, I dined at GOAT, on their ‘leave it to the GOAT’ multi-course menu and this wine worked with every course. I was surprised, no, I was astonished! I recommend No.1 Rosé as an incomparably versatile match.

Chicken Titar Pur a nostalgic favourite for GOAT’s Sid Chopra

No.1 Rosé Brut NV by No.1 Family Estate sparklingly versatile food wine

Next week : Prawn Balchao - a zesty, aromatic seafood specialty from the coast of Goa.