Have you ever tried having a beer with Indian food? It’s no surprise that beer and Indian food taste great together because of the balance that these two give each other. Indian food is known to be robust and we love that beer cuts it down and even enhances the flavors. Here’s a list of the best beer combinations with Indian food.
Indian cuisine is well known worldwide. If there is typically a Chinatown in every country, there’s always a Little India somewhere too. Indian cuisine is rich in flavors, spice, and character. Having Indian food in India cannot compare to anywhere else but some Indians manage to make their food shine anywhere they go. Some of the best Indian restaurants are based in the United Kingdom where beer grew increasing popularity since it crossed over from Bavaria.
Indian food is typically rich in spices and having it with beer helps balance the flavors in your mouth and even enhances the dishes.
Here’s a list of excellent beer that goes well with Indian cuisine.
1. Light Lager
Light lager is crisp with lingering hop bitterness. Light lager is good to pair with lighter Indian dishes. It’s great to pair with curries that have a coconut base or nut base. It’s a great pair as well with Indian salads.
2. Blonde Ale
Blond ale is one of the more approachable beers for those who aren’t as into beers as the aficionados. It is a round and smooth kind of beer that goes perfectly well with light food as well. It goes well with vegetable tikka masala and coconut rice. It also goes well with coconut-based curries.
3. IPA
IPA is a newer version of beer that is here to stay. It has a delicious bitterness and hoppy flavor to it that brings out the best in biryani and tikka masala. However, it is likely that if the biryani is too spicy, the IPA will enhance the hotness of the dish.
4. Wheat Beer
Wheat beers pair very well with seafood-based Indian dishes. It is also a good beer to go with spicy dishes. It’s the perfect beer for dishes from Kerala. Wheat beers are commonly served with slices of lemon so it goes very well with dishes infused with citrus fruits and seafood to balance the seafood flavor.
5. Stout
Stouts go so well with meaty dishes. For India, that means a lot of mutton, chicken and beef dishes. This is one of the heavier kinds of beer and it has notes of chocolate, coffee and licorice. These characteristics amplify the flavors of dishes such as vindaloo and spicy chicken tikka masala. It usually goes well with hearty, spicy and sweet Indian stews.
6. Hoppy Lager
Hops have regained their popularity in the last 5 decades. Hoppy lagers are obviously hop-forward with intense aromatics. It’s great to have with fried food and Indian has a lot of fried food. It goes so well with samosas, bhujia, chole, and many more.
7. Brown Ale
Brown ales are perfect with heavier dishes such as curries. More malt in the beer means it’s better with spice. You don’t have to worry about the spiciness level of an Indian dish when it comes to pairing it with brown ales. They’re basically good with anything spicy and heavy.
