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By Debra C. Argen
Indian food is as diverse as the country itself. It is a beautiful melody of spices and ingredients. Amma, www.ammanyc.com, located at 246 East 51st Street, in New York, successfully marries food from the north with the rich variety of spices from the south. Although we wrote about a wine pairing dinner at Amma in the fall of 2004, we felt that we wanted to return to the restaurant during a non-event to get the true feeling of the restaurant and the cuisine.
So, on a very cold day in December 2004, LuxuryWeb staff, Barbara and Manos Angelakis, and Edward F. Nesta and I returned to Amma celebrate another successful year for LuxuryWeb Magazine. It proved to be the perfect cure to warm us up, with the subtle and often not-so-subtle spices of Indian cuisine. To toast another year, we celebrated with a glass of Rustico Nino Franco, which had a light golden color, with citrus aromas and was lemony on the palate. Even Barbara, who usually does not like sparkling wines, enjoyed this wine.
Bikky Sharma, Sommelier/Manager, decided that we should try some new pairings that he had created, and started us off with Bombay Phiel, a typical Bombay street vendor dish of puffed crispy rice and noodles, with interesting textures and complex spices including tamarind, made this such an appealing dish that not a  crumb was left on anyone’s plate. Bikky paired this appetizer with a Michael Lerner Pinot Blanc 2002 Vin d’Alsace, which was a harmonious companion. Our next appetizer was crispy fried spinach leaves with green mung sprouts, cilantro and tamarind, which Bikky explained was a dish that traditionally would be made at home and served at tea hour. A crispy samosa of green peas and a stuffed mushroom with cheese and potato accompanied by a tamarind and a mint with cilantro sauce followed, paired with a Grover Vineyards Blanc de Blancs de Clairette 2002 from Nandi Hills in Banglore, India with a collaboration from Mr. Michel Rolland, Bordeaux, France which was a golden color, with little citrus, had a blanched almond aroma combined with French oak, and almond on the palate. Deliciously spicy tandoori prawns in a ginger garlic yogurt sauce accompanied by thinly sliced crispy okra shared a plate with boneless chicken stuffed with spinach and spices. My mouth was singing the praises of the shrimp and delighted in the crispy okra as a counterbalance. It was interesting to note that the wine had started to mellow since it was opened, and began to taste like a chardonnay. C hilean sea bass was another highlight of the dinner, which was marinated with lemon, then pan seared with black pepper, coconut, onion and a touch of tomato to mellow the flavors, which paired well with a Torre Oriss Reserve 1996 from Spain, which had a very aromatic nose of roasted cloves, dark ripe plums, with black pepper en bouche. Malabar salmon, a dish from Madras in Southern India was served with lemon rice, mustard seed, saffron, and curry leaf. Edward and I were pleased to find our old favorite, Manchurian cauliflower was as excellent as we had remembered, and was paired with a Stonehaven 2003 Shiraz from South Eastern Australia, which was a fruity, spicy wine with flavors of plums, sour cherries, currents, black cherry and cinnamon with 12.5% alcohol. Tasting continued with boneless tender lamb, baby stuffed eggplant and a homemade pear chutney made with fennel, white wine, black pepper and olive oil, paired with a Santa Julia Reserva 2002, a Cabernet Sauvignon from Argentina which was a very aromatic wine. We ended the tasting with three desserts, a silky mango cheesecake, a rice pudding redolent of spices and pistachios, and Indian ice cream which Bikky had paired with a delicious Petit Grain Muscat de St. Jean de Nimervois, 15 % alcohol.
Dinner at Amma’s, pairing international wines with Indian cuisine was the perfect way to celebrate another year of LuxuryWeb Magazine, “dedicated to the art of living well”.
Amma
246 East 51st Street
New York, NewYork 10022
212-644-8330
www.ammanyc.com
© February 2005. All rights reserved.
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