Indian seafood and Sollasa Mumbai

Deciding what to drink in an Indian restaurant if you don’t go for beer is always a bit of a challenge but now there’s a new option in the form of Sollasa, a delicious aperitif-type drink that has been created to go with Indian food.

I met up with its young founder Vishal Patel and tried it out with several dishes at our local Indian restaurant Nutmeg (he turns out to live in my neighbourhood in Bristol).

At 20% it’s a bit like a cross between a gin and a ‘bianco’ vermouth - you can drink it with tonic or soda or as a cocktail (they suggest a Sollasa Collins or a Sollasa sour)

It’s actually really nice on its own too, quite fragrant - almost floral. I picked up passionfruit which proved not to be in it (what do I know? 🙄) but you will find orange, lychee, lime, mint, basil, coriander seeds cardamom and a pinch of sea salt. It's a bit like having a cocktail without having the bother of making one.

The two dishes I thought it went best with were some crispy Koliwada king prawns seasoned with smoked paprika and ginger and the Allepey Moli, or molee, a Keralan fish stew (on this occasion based on monkfish) in coconut sauce with mustard , fenugreek, curry leaf and tamarind. But it was surprisingly good with some Punjabi lamb chops too.

It’s only just been launched so it’s not widely available but you can buy it for £28.95 at 31dover.com, and £29 from Master of Malt or from their website sollasa.com

See also What wine to drink with curry - my top 5 picks

I tried the pairings at Nutmeg as a guest of Sollasa.

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