Name: Curried Cashew Chicken Salad with Mango and Cashews
Ingredients: 3 lbs chicken breasts, poached; -skin and bones discarded; -and the meat; cut into bite-sized pieces; -(about 4 cups); 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice; 2 monagoes, peeled, pitted and; -cut into ¾" pieces; 1 cup chopped celery; 4 scallions including the; -green part, minced; 1/4 cup plain yogurt; 1/4 cup mayonnaise (i used weight; -watchers' brand...no fat); 1 1.2 tsp curry powder; 1/2 tsp ground cumin; 1 cup roasted cashew nuts, chopped; -(i used ½ cup...it was; -fine); 2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander, if; -desired

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).
Lemon + coriandertop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,498 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Cumin + cashew nuttop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together92 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Lemon + celerytop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together3,467 recipes

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

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together439 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

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

What each ingredient does

Chicken breasts: Provides the bulk of the salad, with meaty texture once cut into bite-sized pieces.
Mayonnaise: Adds fat and creaminess, binding the dressing and coating the chicken and celery.
Plain yogurt: Adds tang and moisture, lightening the creamy dressing.
Mangoes (in the method): Contribute sweetness and juiciness that balance the curry spices.
Cashew nuts: Add crunch and a rich, toasty flavor to the soft salad.
Curry powder: Supplies the warm, aromatic spice character of the dressing.

The step that matters

Chilling the salad. Chilling lets the curry and cumin bloom into the dressing and the flavors meld, while the cashews stay separate until just before serving so they do not soften and lose crunch.

Swap the cashew nut

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chicken, meat, lemon, celery, yogurt, cumin, coriander):

Chickpeafits better
Beansfits better
Lentilsfits better
Cashew nutthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against chicken, meat, lemon, celery, yogurt, 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
Cashew	1 oz (28g / ~18 nuts)	157
Yogurt	170g plain Greek	100
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Walnut	1 walnut half (4g)	26
Lemon	juice of 1 lemon (48ml)	12
Turmeric	1 tsp ground (3g)	9
Cumin	1 tsp ground (2.1g)	8
Celery	1 stalk (40g)	6
Meat	not in our table	0
Coriander	not in our table	0

Curried Cashew Chicken Salad with Mango and Cashews