Tandoori lamb chops and a Portuguese red

In our careless way we often refer to Indian food as ‘curry’ especially when talking about wine pairing but the base ingredient and the way it is cooked is just as important as in any other cuisine. And surprisingly the wine match can be quite obvious.

Lamb chops and red wine? Hardly rocket science. But you might think the fact that they were marinated and came with a pungently spicy mint sauce as at Pahli Hill in Mortimer Street London’s West End would have thrown a red off track.

The wine we drank with them was one of the reds that were available by the glass Azamor, Vinho Regional Alentejano Tinto, Portugal 2019 an impressively complex blend of Syrah, Touriga Nacional, Merlot, Trincadeira, Alicante Bouschet, Mourvèdre and Petit Verdot. It had that lovely suppleness so many Portuguese reds possess but also packed a fair wallop of alcohol which you might have thought would be jarring but which was pitch perfect with the chops.

I think the fact that we ate them without anything in the way of side dishes* helped but I think it would have still powered through.

You can buy the wine for £15.49 from Hay Wines, or £15.98 from Alexander Hadleigh.

*Although we did have some marvellous chicken tikka as well with which it also went brilliantly.

I ate as a guest in the restaurant though we ordered our own wine;