Name: Thai-like Green Curry
Ingredients: 3/4 lbs dried garbanzo beans; (chickpeas) or about 3 cans; 4 large green chilis (anneheim); 1 med onion, chopped; 1 tbsp chopped garlic; 1/2 cup fresh cilantro (coriander); (not too tightly packed); rind of ¾ lemon (removed; with vegetable peeler -- no; white pith); 2 tsp ground coriander; 1 tsp ground cumin; 1 tsp ground turmeric; 1/4 tsp ground cardomon; 1/4 tsp ground anise seeds; 1 tbsp tamari (soy sauce); 1 tbsp worcestershire sauce; (optional -- not necessarily; vegetarian); 1 cup apple juice; 1 14 oz can evaporated skim; milk (or substitute soy or; rice milk); rice

Why it works: Cumin and turmeric match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,698 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.

Cumin + turmerictop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,698 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Coriander + cumintop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together3,866 recipes

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

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together473 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Chickpea + turmerictop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together233 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Beans + chickpeatop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together229 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).

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

What each ingredient does

Dried garbanzo beans (chickpeas): Provide the main body and protein of the curry, becoming tender as they cook.
Evaporated skim milk: Adds creaminess and body to the simmered sauce.
Apple juice: Adds liquid and sweetness, and loosens browned bits from the pan bottom.
Onion: Builds sweetness and savoury depth as it cooks into the paste.
Green chilis: Provide heat and fresh pepper flavour to the paste.

The step that matters

Cooking the paste until lightly browned. Frying the spice and aromatic paste until it deepens in colour develops roasted, savoury flavour. Browning should stay light, since scorched spices turn bitter.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beans, chickpea, garlic, coriander, lemon, cumin, turmeric):

Spinachfits better
Kalefits better
Okrafits better
Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beans, chickpea, garlic, coriander, lemon, cumin, turmeric. 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
Rice	1 cup cooked (158g) white	206
Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Chickpea	1/2 cup canned (120g) drained	134
Vegetable	1 tbsp (14g)	120
Apple Juice	1 medium (182g)	95
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Lemon	juice of 1 lemon (48ml)	12
Turmeric	1 tsp ground (3g)	9
Soy Sauce	1 tbsp (15ml)	9
Chili	1 tsp (2.7g)	8
Cumin	1 tsp ground (2.1g)	8
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Cilantro	1 tbsp chopped fresh (1g)	1
Bean	not in our table	0
Coriander	not in our table	0
Anise	not in our table	0
Seed	not in our table	0

Thai-like Green Curry