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Spiced Tomato Dipping Sauce

A spicy tomato sauce with onions, garlic, ginger, cumin, paprika, cinnamon, cayenne, cloves, olive oil, vinegar, tomatoes, and brown sugar.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 12 ingredients
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Why it works: Clove and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,189 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓

Spiced Tomato Dipping Sauce

1-2 cups of sauce
Timeabout 30 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Put the onion, garlic, ginger and spices in a large saucepan with olive oil and sauté over moderately low heat.

  2. Stir the mixture frequently for about 4 minutes, or until the onion is softened.

  3. Stir in the vinegar and simmer on the same heat for about 1 minute.

  4. Add the tomatoes, including their juice, and the brown sugar.

  5. Increase the heat slightly and simmer, checking regularly and stirring occasionally. Remove from heat when slightly thickened; it should have been on heat for about 30 minutes.

  6. Allow the sauce to cool slightly before putting it into a blender. Whisk until smooth.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

270Calories
3 gProtein
15 gFat
34 gCarbs

Counts 11 of 12 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 11 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Cumin1 tsp ground (2.1g)8
Cloves1 tsp ground (2g)7
Cinnamon1 tsp ground (2.6g)6
Cayenne1 tsp (1.8g)6
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Vinegar1 tbsp (15ml) distilled3
Ginger1 tsp grated fresh (2g)2
Cidernot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

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.

  1. Clove + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,189 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  2. Ginger + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,380 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  3. Clove + gingertop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,038 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  4. Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together29,058 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  5. Cumin + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,103 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-methoxybenzaldehyde (sweet, anise).

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

What each ingredient does

Onions
Soften and sweeten as they cook, forming the base flavour of the sauce.
Tomatoes
Provide the bulk, acidity and liquid that simmer down into the sauce.
Brown sugar
Adds sweetness that balances the acidity of the tomatoes and vinegar.
Cider vinegar
Adds acidity that brightens the sauce and sharpens the tomato flavour.
Olive oil
Carries the spices and aromatics, helping release their fat-soluble aroma.

The step that matters

Simmer until slightly thickened. Tomatoes are mostly water, so the sauce thickens only as moisture evaporates. Removing it too early leaves it thin, while overcooking makes it dense and concentrated.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (clove, garlic, ginger, cumin, cinnamon, olive, cider):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Sweet potatofits better
  3. Broccolifits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against clove, garlic, ginger, cumin, cinnamon, olive, cider. 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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