Pairing Chicken Pakoras With Cocktails? Here’s A Handy Monsoon Drinks Guide
Chicken pakoras are flavour and texture-forward bar bites. Their juicy, spicy tasting notes are meant to go with their crispy structures, lending the monsoon staple snacks their inherently delicious flavour composition. Chicken pakoras are then favoured munchies at a rainy day cocktail party – from chicken popcorn to fried chicken nuggets, a number of these snacks can be prepared and served with light and fresh dips at the gathering.
One of the reasons chicken pakoras also work at monsoon parties is because their crunchy textures and flavours manage to bring out the fresh, fruity, tart and bright notes in different cocktails. When paired with the right blends, the pakora’s seasoning cuts through the drinks’ fizzy textures and bright flavours, leading to a well-balanced culinary and mixology pairing.
Read on below to know more about some of the cocktails that can accompany different kinds of crispy chicken pakoras which function as popular bar bites during monsoon weather:
Whisky Highball
A simple cocktail with a fizzy texture, it is the malty, mellow notes of this drink that make it an exceedingly interesting pairing with spicy chicken pakoras. Made with about 30 ml Johnnie Walker Black Label or any other premium whisky of choice, that is topped off with 60 ml cola or club soda, the highball’s sweet and tart taste undercuts the masala in the chicken pakora without overpowering its overall flavours. Prepare the classic highball cocktail to serve it with platefuls of chicken pakoras and mint chutney at a monsoon-time gathering.
Gimlet With A Herb Twist
The gimlet is a cocktail with a well-known history. But what puts a light twist on this drink blended using 30 ml of any premium gin of choice is a bit of thyme that introduces a heightened botanical touch into the cocktail. The bright notes of the 10 ml lime juice in the blend cuts through the denser flavours of the fried chicken drumsticks or nuggets whereas the botanicals in the gin compliment the peri peri dressing sprinkled on the bar bite – crafting an interesting and spiced combination for a rainy evening.
Also Read: Fish Pakoda And Cocktails For Rainy Evenings: A Snack-Drink Pairing You Shouldn't Miss
Tamarind Rum Smash
The rich flavours of a tablespoon of tamarind chutney blend into the caramelised and tart flavours of 30 ml of any premium rum of choice, to produce a cocktail with a rather deep tangy and bitter profile. These dense flavours are undercut by chicken nuggets served with a sweet and sour dip. The contrasting notes of the cocktail and the dip come together in a robust pairing suitable for those chilly evenings that the rainy season sporadically brings.
Gingery Vodka Mule
Prepared using 30 ml of any premium vodka of choice that is topped off with about 60 ml ginger beer, the vodka mule is a crisp and zesty drink that mirrors the spice in the pakoras. Its fizzy textures and gingery zing also undercut the denser notes in fried chicken lollipops or classic fritters to make for a contrasting pairing of a light drink with a spiced bar bite served with sriracha dressing. Garnish this cocktail with fresh mint leaves to introduce a sharpness into it that cuts through the juicy chicken.
Monsoon Punch
A fruit-forward drink prepared with a tablespoon of lime juice, about 10 ml orange juice, chopped apples and pears, the monsoon punch can be finished off with the addition of 30 ml of any premium rum of choice. Its tart, citrusy, fruity notes match the robust flavours of the spices added to the marinade used to coat the chicken before deep-frying. A mint mayo dip can accompany the bar bites that balances out some of the fruity notes of the punch, to craft a well-balanced flavour combination that suits a rainy day party.
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