Food pairing
Beer with chicken tikka masala
Mild, creamy and lightly sweet, with grilled char under a tomato-and-cream sauce.
Creamy, tomato-based and mildly spiced — much closer to a rich sauce than to a hot curry, which is why the usual chilli advice mostly does not apply.
Fat and tomato acidity decide it. Carbonation clears the cream, and a beer with a little malt sweetness meets the sauce without fighting the tomato.
Chicken tikka masala narrows the field sharply, and one answer stands clear of the rest. Most beer falls down on at least one thing this dish demands. The attribute doing most of the work is aromatic spice.
What to drink
Belgian blond ale — excellent pairing
Gentle yeast spice picks up the garam masala while the beer’s soft sweetness meets the cream and tomato. Enough carbonation to lift the fat without needing bitterness to do it.
Caution: Expect the beer to refresh rather than to stand up to the food.
Weizenbock — outstanding
Peppery and clove-like notes from the yeast pick up the warm spicing in the dish — the same aromatic family on both sides.
Tropical stout — outstanding
Deep malt character matches the savoury weight of the dish instead of sitting apart from it.
Czech dark lager — strong
Deep malt character matches the savoury weight of the dish instead of sitting apart from it.
Caution: Expect the beer to refresh rather than to stand up to the food.
American porter — strong
Deep malt character matches the savoury weight of the dish instead of sitting apart from it.
Dubbel — strong
Beer and dish carry similar weight, so neither flattens the other.
Caution: Expect the beer to refresh rather than to stand up to the food.
Bière de Garde — strong
Beer and dish carry similar weight, so neither flattens the other.
Caution: Expect the beer to refresh rather than to stand up to the food.
Oud Bruin — strong
Beer and dish carry similar weight, so neither flattens the other.
Caution: Expect the beer to refresh rather than to stand up to the food.
What not to drink
- Dark mild — A light beer against a heavy plate tends to disappear.
- Lambic — A light beer against a heavy plate tends to disappear.
- Alcohol-free wheat beer — Expect the beer to refresh rather than to stand up to the food.