Name: Tandoori Tofu Masala “salad”
Ingredients: 1 cup firm cubed tofu; 4 tablespoons tandoori masala; 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper (optional); 2 tablespoons lemon juice, freshly squeezed; 1 teaspoon salt; grinds coarse black pepper; 3 cloves garlic, crushed and minced; 2 tablespoons freshly grated ginger; 4 dried cayenne chilies, cut in half; 1/2 onion white onion, sliced in rainbows; 1/2 bell pepper green bell pepper, thinly sliced; 3/4 cup yellow cherry tomatoes, cut in half; handful cilantro, washed and finely chopped; 1 tablespoon PAM (original) or olive oil; leaves romaine lettuce (optional); chat masala (optional); 1 tablespoon cumin powder; 1 tablespoon coriander powder; 1 tablespoon fenugreek (methi) powder; 1 tablespoon chili powder; 1 teaspoon turmeric; 1 teaspoon garlic powder; 1 teaspoon cinnamon; 1 teaspoon ginger powder; 1 teaspoon black pepper; 1 teaspoon nutmeg (optional); 1/2 teaspoon clove powder

Why it works: Clove and ginger match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,038 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

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.

Clove + gingertop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together6,038 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Garlic + oniontop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together29,058 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Pepper + lemontop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together27,047 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Lemon + gingertop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,154 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Pepper + clovetop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together17,451 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

Swap the cherry tomato

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tofu, pepper, lemon, clove, garlic, ginger, onion):

Limefits better
Avocadofits better
Mangofits better
Cherry tomatothe original

Fit is the average pairing score against tofu, pepper, lemon, clove, garlic, ginger, onion. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Cherry	1 cup (138g)	87
Tofu	100g firm	76
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Lemon	juice of 1 lemon (48ml)	12
Nutmeg	1 tsp ground (2.2g)	12
Turmeric	1 tsp ground (3g)	9
Cumin	1 tsp ground (2.1g)	8
Clove	1 tsp ground (2g)	7
Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Cayenne	1 tsp (1.8g)	6
Cinnamon	1 tsp ground (2.6g)	6
Lettuce	1 cup shredded (36g)	5
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Olive	1 large (4g)	4
Ginger	1 tsp grated fresh (2g)	2
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Capsicum	not in our table	0
Coriander	not in our table	0
Fenugreek	not in our table	0

Tandoori Tofu Masala “salad”