Name: Curried Chicken Salad I
Ingredients: salad; 1 lbs boneless chicken breasts; 2 cup chicken stock; 2 cucumbers, thinly sliced; 3 stalks celery, thinly sliced; 1 cup green grapes, halved; 4 scallions, sliced; 1 tbsp dried currants; dressing; 1 cup low fat yogurt; 2 tbsp curry powder; 1 tbsp white wine vinegar; 2 tsp lime juice; pn white pepper

Why it works: Cucumber and celery are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,745 recipes. Both carry linalool, which smells floral, citrus. 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.

Cucumber + celerytop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,745 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Cucumber + vinegartop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,734 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyl acetate (fruit).
Grape + white winetop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together201 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).
Cucumber + yogurttop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together650 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
White wine + vinegartop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,776 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

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

What each ingredient does

Chicken breasts: Provides the main protein, which becomes tender and firm when gently poached.
Low fat yogurt: Forms the creamy base of the dressing and adds moisture and tang.
Curry powder: Supplies the warm, spiced flavour that defines the dish.
Celery: Adds crisp texture that contrasts with the soft chicken.
Cucumbers: Adds cool moisture and crunch to the salad.

The step that matters

Poach the chicken gently. Poaching just below a simmer keeps the proteins tender and moist. Boiling hard toughens the meat and makes it dry, which carries through to the finished salad.

Swap the currant

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chicken, cucumber, celery, grape, yogurt, white wine, vinegar):

Plumfits better
Mangofits better
Cherryfits better
Currantthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against chicken, cucumber, celery, grape, yogurt, white wine, vinegar. 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
Yogurt	170g plain Greek	100
Green Grape	1/2 cup (76g)	62
Grape	1/2 cup (76g)	62
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Cucumber	1/2 cup sliced (52g)	16
Lime	juice of 1 lime (44ml)	11
Turmeric	1 tsp ground (3g)	9
Celery	1 stalk (40g)	6
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Vinegar	1 tbsp (15ml) distilled	3
Salad	not in our table	0

Curried Chicken Salad I