Standing up to the spice
Fresh, f loral wine pairs with savory tandoori chicken samosas
That Food: Tandoori Chicken Samosa (4 tickets) at Guru Fine Indian Cuisine (booth #4)
Take two iconic Indian dishes, fuse them together and the result is one of the tastiest street-food snacks being offered at this year’s Taste of Edmonton.
Chef Deependra Singh of Guru Fine Indian Cuisine has taken the classic samosa and filled the triangle-shaped fried pastry with northern India’s most famous dish, tandoori chicken.
Singh breaks down the chicken and marinates the pieces in yogurt and a blend of spices including cloves, cinnamon, star anise, cardamom and bay leaf. The yogurt acts as a tenderizing agent.
The chicken is left to marinate overnight, then skewered and baked for approximately 30 minutes at 450 F in a cylindrical clay oven known as a tandoor.
Once cooked through, the chicken is cubed and tossed in tandoori masala (a mixture of spices which changes depending on the chef, but generally includes garlic, ginger, cayenne and garam masala, which is its own blend of spices). The mixture of spices gives the chicken its familiar pink colour and savoury-spicy flavour.
The chicken is stuffed into the homemade pyramidshaped dough, fried for two to three minutes and served with a tamarind chutney.
What could be better than crispy dough, filled with savoury, flavourful, moist and tender chicken, mixing a hint of heat with the exotic tart and sweet tamarind chutney as an accompaniment? It’s a flavour and texture feast for your palate. (I’m actually eating one as I write this column.)
This Wine: Bougrier Vouvray Chenin Blanc 2012, Loire Valley France (5-oz glass, 5 tickets)
Bright, lovely, fresh and floral with pure apple, fig, citrus peel and ginger spice, easy drinking, zippy acidity and just a hint of sweetness on the balanced finish.
Made from 100 per cent Chenin Blanc grapes, this wine is a natural match with Asian cuisine due to its spice flavour and hint of sweetness which acts to compliment and, if necessary, cool the heat.
It is important to remember that spice in Indian cuisine doesn’t just translate to heat. More often, and particularly when a chef as talented as Singh is involved, spice translates to flavour.
This pairing should also dismiss the myth (if there is anyone who still believes it) that wine doesn’t go with Indian food. The Vouvray, while delicate, flavourful and so drinkable, has enough flavour, structure and acidity to stand up to the tandoori spices and not be over powered by the multi-layered flavours of the stuffed samosa.
Taste of Edmonton runs through Saturday, July 26th. Guru Fine Indian Cuisine Restaurant is located at 17021 100th Ave. For information and reservations, head to gururestaurant.com or call 780-484-4300.
Taste of Edmonton Wine Notes
Owner/winemaker Tom Meadowcroft will be in town from California and in the wine tent at Taste of Edmonton on Thursday and Friday evenings showcasing his 2013 Meadowcroft Syrah.
There were only 350 cases of the wine produced. It’s rare to have a wine being served whose production is so small at a festival the size of Taste of Edmonton.
Get out to meet the friendly and engaging Meadowcroft and show him some Edmonton summer festival love.