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Dinner is served! Naan is to the back left, baingan
aloo is to the back right, and the Navratan korma
is in the front. |
For Valentine's Day, my boyfriend Ryan and I decided to cook ourselves an Indian feast of Baingan Aloo, Navratan Korma, and Naan. Our love of Indian cuisine was inspired by a local restaurant here in Blacksburg, India Garden, that has a wonderful lunch buffet. I had never tried Indian food until I stepped into India Garden last spring upon a friend's recommendation, but I quickly found out that I had been missing out on one of the most delicious and interesting styles of food in the world.
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| Indian For Everyone by Anupy Singla |
One of my favorite dishes at India Garden is the vegetable korma which has a variety of vegetables drenched in a creamy cashew sauce. I've been so distraught over the fact that after I graduate this spring, I won't be able to go eat it at India Garden anymore! Knowing this, Ryan thoughtfully bought me a cookbook and an assortment of Indian cooking supplies for my birthday back in December. The cookbook, shown to the right, focuses on classic, everyday Indian dishes and provides modifications to veganize every dish. It has a recipe for Navratan "nine jewels" korma, which is a heartier, richer take on the vegetable korma at India Garden.
The korma we made not only had vegetables, but dried fruit as well. We included cauliflower, carrots, green beans, zucchini, potato, red bell pepper, peas, corn, edamame, tomatoes, and golden raisins in our cashew cream curry, which was spiced with turmeric, coriander, cayenne, cloves, cardamom, ginger, and Garam Masala. Above you can see Ryan manning the korma on the stove.
Baingan aloo is another one of my favorites from India Garden. This dish has one of my favorite vegetables, eggplant, sauteed with potato, cumin, turmeric, serrano peppers, Garam Masala, and cilantro. I regret putting two whole serrano chiles in this dish; it was a little too spicy for me! Here I am stirring up the baingan aloo.
Finally, we couldn't possibly eat korma without our favorite Indian bread: naan. We always pile our plates high with it at India Garden so that we can drench it in our yellow korma sauce. According to my cookbook, naan is actually not eaten very often in India; it is considered a treat for special occasions only. No wonder we love it so much!
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| Homemade naan bread with nigella flower seeds |
I whipped up the dough earlier in the day on Valentine's Day so that it would have time to rise. We cooked it in the oven at 500 degrees Fahrenheit on the very top rack with a Pyrex dish full of water at the bottom of the oven to simulate the conditions of a tandoori oven. This recipe had the unexpected addition of kalonji, or nigella seeds, which gave our naan a unique and delicious flavor. Needless to say, we were very hungry and exhausted by the time all of this food was ready!
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| The table is set; time to chow down! (And drink up!) |
A quick browsing on the internet told us that sweet white wines, such as Gewurztraminer and Riesling, go well with Indian food and korma specifically. The sweetness is supposed to balance out the spiciness of the food. We chose to drink Willm Gewurztraminer Reserve from Alsace, vintage 2014, and Schloss Vollrads Estate Kabinett Riesling from Rheingau, vintage 2011, based on that recommendation. Our third wine was more of a departure from the styles of the other two; I had a bottle of Indwe Pinotage from South Africa, vintage 2013, that I had picked up from the Vintage Cellar. This dry, red wine got a nice review, so we decided to try it too!
Name: Schloss Vollrads Estate
Variety: Riesling
Region: Rheingau
Country: Germany
Year: 2011
Price: $33 on sale for $14
The riesling on its own has a light, citrusy aroma that is almost musty. The flavor reminds me very vividly of apples. It becomes very tart on the mid palette, but mellows out into a more buttery softness. When I tasted this with the baingan aloo, I really picked up on a fizzing sensation; the slight carbonation had a real zing with this spicy dish, and the sweetness was replaced by a more pronounced sourness. With the korma, the riesling took on a sour, metallic flavor, which ended more sweetly with floral notes. With the yeasty naan, all of the sweetness of this wine pretty much disappeared and was replaced by a sharp, alcoholic pow. It was incredible to taste how differently this wine embodied itself with each of my foods.
Name: Willm
Variety: Gewurztraminer
Region: Alsace
Country: France
Year: 2014
Price: $15
This dark gold wine smells like dust, petroleum, and honey at the same time. Without food, it tastes very crisp, fruity, and sweet yet bitter at the same time. This was the wine that was specifically recommended for korma. When I tasted it with the baingan aloo, it really helped to mellow out the spiciness of the serranos. It took on a buttery, creamy sensation that was a nice complement to the dish. With the korma, the wine became almost like water; I couldn't really taste it at all! The sweetness disappeared, but the korma really shined. I guess this is what was supposed to happen... On the contrary, the sweetness of this wine was exceptionally strong when I tasted it with the naan. Again, the alcohol became very apparent with the naan. I would say this was my favorite wine to drink with all of the food.
Name: Indwe
Variety: Pinotage
Region: Coastal
Country: South Africa
Year: 2013
Price: $7
The pinotage is a dark black-red in color, and it smells very chocolatey and rich, like dried fruit. It tastes dry, like charred wood, but it then proceeds to coat the tongue on the mid palette without food. Interestingly enough, when I tasted this wine with the baingan aloo, all of the woodiness disappeared, and some sweet overtones appeared. The korma, on the other hand, enhanced the woody, smoky flavor of the wine. Finally, the naan brought out a really unpleasant bitterness in the wine along with the now expected alcohol flavor. I didn't particularly enjoy this wine with the food, but it was definitely my favorite to drink on its own.
All in all, I think Ryan and I had a pretty successful Valentine's Day dinner. Not only did we get to recreate some of our favorite foods from scratch, we got to experience firsthand just how different our food could taste with these three distinct wines. To read Ryan's take on the evening, check out his blog at
http://rgrove4-wine.blogspot.com/.
