Name: Borani-e Khiar
Ingredients: 1/2 cup raisins; 1/4 cup fresh, organic rose petals; 2 1/2 cups drained plain whole yogurt, or labneh; 1/2 cup sour cream, optional; 1 seedless English cucumber, or 3 Persian cucumbers, peeled and very thinly sliced; 2 scallions, chopped; 1/4 cup fresh mint leaves; 1/4 cup fresh Thai basil leaves; 1/4 cup fresh dill weed; 1/4 cup fresh tarragon leaves; 1 clove garlic, crushed, peeled and finely grated; 2 red radishes, thinly sliced; 2 tsp. salt; 1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper; 1/2 cup toasted walnuts; 1 pkg. toasted flatbread, such as pita, lavash, sangak or barbary

Why it works: Cucumber and dill match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 530 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. 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 + dilltop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together530 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Cucumber + minttop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together884 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Mint + dilltop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together177 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Yogurt + dilltop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together580 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
Yogurt + cucumbertop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together650 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

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

What each ingredient does

Drained plain whole yogurt or labneh: Forms the thick, creamy base of the dip and provides its tang.
Sour cream: Adds extra richness and a smoother, fuller texture to the dip.
English cucumber: Adds cool, moist crunch that loosens the dip with its water content.
Raisins: Add concentrated sweetness that balances the sharpness of the yogurt and garlic.
Toasted walnuts: Add roasted, crunchy texture and a toasty, nutty flavour.
Fresh mint leaves: Add bright, cooling aroma that lifts the rich yogurt.

The step that matters

Freezing the raisins and rose petals. Freezing and then stirring them in just before serving keeps the raisins plump and the petals fragrant and crisp, rather than soft and dull after mixing into the wet dip.

Swap the thai basil

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (raisin, rose, yogurt, cream, cucumber, mint, dill):

Cardamomfits better
Corianderfits better
Cinnamonfits better
Thai basilthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against raisin, rose, yogurt, cream, cucumber, mint, dill. 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
Yogurt	170g plain Greek	100
Grape	1/2 cup (76g)	62
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Walnut	1 walnut half (4g)	26
Cucumber	1/2 cup sliced (52g)	16
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Dill	5 sprigs fresh (1g) / 1 tsp dried	4
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Tarragon	1 tsp dried (0.5g)	2
Basil	5 leaves fresh (2.5g)	1
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Rose	not in our table	0
Peppermint	not in our table	0

Borani-e Khiar

Borani-e Khiar

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

Make the dip

Serve

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)