Name: Chicken Paprika II
Ingredients: 12 chicken pieces (about 3 pounds); 1 tablespoon butter or margarine; 1 tablespoon vegetable oil; 1 large onion, chopped; 2 teaspoons paprika; 1 teaspoon salt; 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper; 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder; 1 1/2 cups tomato juice; 3 cups hot cooked rice; 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley; 1/2 cup sour cream; 2 tablespoons flour

Why it works: Onion and garlic match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 29,058 recipes. Both carry furaneol, which smells caramel, strawberry. 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.

Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together29,058 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together34,122 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Garlic + tomatotop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together14,076 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Garlic + parsleytop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together9,308 recipes

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

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,769 recipes

Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).

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

What each ingredient does

Chicken pieces: Provide the main protein, which becomes tender as it simmers in the seasoned tomato liquid.
Tomato juice: Forms the braising liquid and adds acidity and body to the sauce.
Sour cream: Adds richness and tang to the sauce once it is thickened.
Flour: Thickens the sauce as it heats, giving it body without boiling.
Paprika: Gives the dish its characteristic color and mild sweet, earthy flavor.
Onion: Adds sweetness and savory depth as it softens in the fat.

The step that matters

Cook the sour cream sauce without boiling. Sour cream can curdle and separate when it gets too hot. Keeping the sauce below a boil and thickening it gently keeps it smooth and creamy.

Swap the parsley

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chicken, butter, onion, pepper, garlic, tomato, rice):

Thymefits about as well
Cuminfits about as well
Corianderfits about as well
Parsleythe original

Fit is the average pairing score against chicken, butter, onion, pepper, garlic, tomato, 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.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Rice	1 cup cooked (158g) white	206
Chicken	100g cooked	165
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Yogurt	170g plain Greek	100
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Parsley	1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)	1
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

Chicken Paprika II