Name: Reshmi Kebabs
Ingredients: 1/2 kg minced meat; 1 tsp raw papaya; 1/2 tsp salt; Paste of; 1/2 tsp mace; 4 green cardamoms; 2 brown cardamoms; 2 tsp garam masala; 1 dessert spoon poppy seeds; 1 tbsp cashew nuts; 1/2 tbsp chironji; 1/2 tbsp dry coconut; 1 large pinch saffron; 2 tbsp curd; 2 tbsp cream; 2-3 drops of kewra essence & mithi ittar; 2 medium onions chopped; 2 tsp ginger paste; 2 tbsp besan; 1 tsp red chilli powder; chaat masala; Oil for frying

Why it works: Cardamom and saffron match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 342 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. 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.

Cardamom + saffrontop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together342 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Cashew nut + coconuttop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together150 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Cardamom + cashew nuttop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together86 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Papaya + coconuttop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together46 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
Cashew nut + saffrontop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together33 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

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

What each ingredient does

Minced meat: Forms the main body of the kebab and gives it its bite.
Raw papaya: Contains enzymes that tenderise the meat during the resting time.
Curd: Adds moisture and mild acidity that helps keep the kebabs tender.
Besan: Roasted gram flour that binds the mince and helps hold the kebab's shape.
Cream: Adds fat and richness, keeping the kebabs soft and juicy.
Onions: Browned onions add sweetness and depth of flavour to the mince.

The step that matters

Add the raw papaya paste to the mince. Raw papaya contains papain, an enzyme that breaks down meat proteins. Leaving it too long, or adding too much, can make the mince mushy and hard to shape, so the half-hour rest should be followed closely.

Swap the mace

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (meat, papaya, cardamom, poppy seed, cashew nut, coconut, saffron):

Turmericfits better
Corianderfits better
Cuminfits better
Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against meat, papaya, cardamom, poppy seed, cashew nut, coconut, saffron. 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
Coconut	1/2 cup shredded (40g)	283
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Cream	1 tbsp (15ml) heavy	51
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Cardamom	1 tsp ground (2g)	6
Ginger	1 tsp grated fresh (2g)	2
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Meat	not in our table	0
Papaya	not in our table	0
Mace	not in our table	0
Poppy Seed	not in our table	0
Cashew Nut	not in our table	0
Saffron	not in our table	0

Reshmi Kebabs

Reshmi Kebabs

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the mince

Shape and cook

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)