Name: Spiced Pumpkin Soup I
Ingredients: 2 1/2 lbs pumpkin, cleaned and cut in chunks; 2 tablespoons butter or margarine; 1 large onion, chopped; 1 large apple, chopped; 2 cloves garlic, chopped; 1 tablespoon curry powder; 1 teaspoon ground cumin; 1 teaspoon ground coriander; 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper; 1 liter chicken stock or vegetable stock; lemon juice; chopped parsley or coriander, to serve; sour cream (optional)

Why it works: Cumin and coriander match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,866 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. 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.

Cumin + coriandertop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together3,866 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together29,058 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Garlic + cumintop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,082 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Garlic + coriandertop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together6,474 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Clove + cumintop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,306 recipes

Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

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

What each ingredient does

Pumpkin: Forms the bulk of the soup and gives it body and mild sweetness as it cooks down.
Onion: Softens and sweetens as it fries, building the savoury base of the soup.
Curry powder: Releases aromatic compounds when fried in fat, giving the soup its warm spiced flavour.
Apple: Adds natural sweetness and a little acidity that balances the spices.
Butter: Carries the spices and adds richness and a rounded mouthfeel.
Chicken stock: Provides the liquid that cooks and loosens the pumpkin into a smooth soup.

The step that matters

Frying the spices. Spices bloom in hot fat and release their aroma; if they burn, they turn bitter. Stir them and move on once fragrant.

Swap the apple

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pumpkin, butter, onion, clove, garlic, cumin, coriander):

Limefits better
Avocadofits better
Coconutfits better
Applethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against pumpkin, butter, onion, clove, garlic, cumin, coriander. 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.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Chicken	100g cooked	165
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Yogurt	170g plain Greek	100
Apple	1 medium (182g)	95
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Lemon	juice of 1 lemon (48ml)	12
Turmeric	1 tsp ground (3g)	9
Cumin	1 tsp ground (2.1g)	8
Chili	1 tsp (2.7g)	8
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Parsley	1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)	1
Pumpkin	not in our table	0
Coriander	not in our table	0

Spiced Pumpkin Soup I