Why it works: Chicken and rice are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,769 recipes. Both carry (e,e)-2,4-decadienal, which smells fatty, deep fried. The science ↓
Curry Chicken
Ingredients
Directions
Cook the chicken
Wash the chicken.
Place it in a stewpan with enough water to cover it.
Boil, covered, until tender.
Add the salt and cook for a few more minutes.
Remove the chicken and set aside the broth.
Make the curry
In the same stewpan, fry the onions in butter until brown.
Remove the onions and add the chicken.
Fry the chicken for 3-4 minutes.
Sprinkle with curry powder.
Pour in the reserved broth.
Stir well.
Simmer for 5 minutes.
Mix the flour with a little water. Stir it into the stew.
Add the beaten egg yolk. Mix well.
Serve
Serve the curry in the center of a platter with hot boiled rice around it.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
-
Chicken + ricetop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,769 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
-
Chicken + oniontop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,814 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).
-
Onion + ricetop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,433 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
-
Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Onion + buttertop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together42,912 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Chicken
- Provides the main protein, which becomes tender through covered simmering in water.
- Onions
- Frying until brown adds sweetness and savory depth to the curry base.
- Curry powder
- Supplies the spice aroma and flavor that defines the dish.
- Flour
- Thickens the broth into a smoother, more body-rich sauce when stirred in.
- Egg yolk
- Enriches the sauce, adding richness and further thickening as it mixes in.
The step that matters
Stirring in the egg yolk. Egg yolk can curdle or scramble if the liquid is too hot when it is added. Stirring it in off the heat or with the sauce at a gentle temperature keeps the sauce smooth and glossy.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chicken, egg, butter, flour, rice):
- Asparagusfits better
- Leekfits better
- Potatofits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against chicken, egg, butter, flour, rice. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
More chicken curry recipes
You might also like
Chicken Broth257 recipes
Chicken Soup156 recipes
Creamed Chicken89 recipes
Rice Fritters84 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.