Why it works: Onion and rice are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,433 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓
How to Curry Fish
Ingredients
Directions
Make the gravy
Make a rich fish gravy using fish bones and some flesh.
Fry the onions in butter and add them to the gravy.
Stir in the curry powder and a piece of butter rolled in flour.
Cook the fish and rice
Half-fry the fish as if for stewing, then place it in a stew pan.
Let the mixture stew slowly over the fire for the same time as regular stewing.
Prepare the rice by boiling it gently until done, then drain.
Place the saucepan on the stove or fire until the rice grains separate.
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.
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Onion + ricetop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,433 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Fish + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,488 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Fish + ricetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together270 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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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
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat, and helps carry the curry flavour through the gravy.
- Flour
- Thickens the gravy as it cooks, giving it body.
- Curry powder
- Provides the main spiced aroma and flavour of the dish.
- Onions
- Add sweetness and savoury depth as they soften and brown in butter.
- Fish
- Provides the main protein, which flakes into the stewed gravy.
The step that matters
Stewing the fish in the gravy. Fish is delicate and can break apart or turn tough if it is overcooked. Simmering it gently over low heat keeps the flesh moist and intact while it absorbs the gravy's flavour.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (fish, butter, flour, rice):
- Leekfits better
- Shallotfits better
- Potatofits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against fish, 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.
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