While dining indoors is limited and generally not recommended right now, I have been supporting local restaurants by ordering takeout. This week, it was Indian cuisine, thanks to Indiya in Collingswood. It’s easy to get in a rut when you are cooking and dining in all of the time, but at least once a week we try to mix it up with takeout via a vast array of local restaurants. Many of these restaurants are those we have patronized in the past. We do so now with hopes to dine there in the future, while enjoying the diverse meal choices now.
Indiya is located on Haddon Avenue (the main street in Collingswood). If you have never been there, it has a very attractive interior with the kind of Eastern World ambience and vibe you might hope to experience. On Thursday, however, it was the House of Mullen, where we enjoyed our dinner and wine.
The Dinner
We ordered an appetizer to share, two entrees, and they included a surprise dessert with our meal.
Appetizer
For our appetizer we chose the Masala Crabcakes (spicy lump crab cakes with fennel and chili balsamic). It was served with a tomato chutney sauce. We shared these two and agreed that we would enjoy an entree of these, if offered.
To accompany the appetizer and entrees we added a side of Garlic Naan (pictured below).
Entrees
I chose the Lamb Saagwala. This consisted of tender lamb, simmered in “delicately spiced” spinach with fresh ginger and mint. This is one of those dishes that photos don’t do justice. Nothing short of “smellavision” could. (Pictured below left).
My wife ordered the Lamb Roganjosh-a specialty of Kashmir. It consisted of tender morsels of lamb cooked in traditional kashmir spices with saffron and yogurt. (Pictured below right).
We couldn’t have been more pleased with our meals. I requested “mild spice”, while my wife requested “medium spice”. They both seemed to have about the same degree of spice, but we enjoyed them both. Not too hot, but definitely not bland!
The Wine
The two wines I chose to compliment this meal were William Heritage Winery 2019 Rose and Beneduce Vineyards 2016 Centerfold Pinot Noir.
The Centerfold Pinot Noir and the Rose were great sipping during our Happy Hour Zoom before dinner and just as good with the meal. I enjoy experimenting pairing wines with various foods. For some time, Riesling has been my go-to wine with spicy foods like Thai, Sushi, and Indian cuisine. I did not have any New Jersey Riesling in my cellar. Pinot Noir is very versatile, but would it work with this meal? Rose wines can compliment a little spice, with their low tannins and their fruity flavor profile, but I have not tried this pairing previously. We experimented, trying both wines with the meal.
The Beneduce Centerfold Pinot Noir was a medium-bodied, ruby red Pinot Noir with strawberry and cherry notes and very smooth tannins. Once again Pinot Noir showed its versatility, pairing wonderfully with this meal. I enjoyed it so much that I wished I had another bottle in the cellar. This Beneduce estate produced bottle is their best yet, in my opinion.
The William Heritage Rose was very refreshing and a nice match with the appetizer and Naan. This estate-grown blend of Merlot (74%) and Cab Franc (26%), showed notes of strawberries and pink grapefruit. It paired especially well with the crab cakes and naan and even with the lamb. It’s amazing how many good New Jersey Roses are being produced. If you haven’t tried the William Heritage Rose, you really should!
As mentioned above, they included a saffron kheer for dessert (Indian rice pudding). The rice was cooked in milk with pistachios and almonds. It was very rich and very tasty.
Cheers!
New Jersey Uncorked Sale
If you are still looking for my guide to New Jersey Wineries, you can get the paperback for $17.99 here:
http://store.bookbaby.com/book/New-Jersey-Uncorked
or the ebook (at the Apple iBook app for $9.99. Just use the coupon code Winter2021 (only at these two sites-Not Amazon).
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