Name: Taurus Chinese Chicken Curry
Ingredients: 6 tablespoons oil; 1 medium onion, chopped; 2 tomatoes, chopped; 2 tablespoons curry powder; 2 tablespoons soy sauce; 2 teaspoons minced peeled fresh ginger; 2 garlic cloves, minced; 1 teaspoon ground turmeric; 1 teaspoon chili powder; 1/2 pound boiling potatoes, cut into 1-inch cubes; 1 cup unchicken broth; 1 tablespoon dry white wine; 1 pound fake chicken, cut into 2-inch pieces; 1/2 cup golden raisins; 1/4 cup soy sour cream; Salt and pepper

Why it works: Ginger and turmeric match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,776 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.

Ginger + turmerictop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,776 recipes

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

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together6,038 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together29,058 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Tomato + garlictop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together14,076 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Onion + potatotop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together9,023 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

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

What each ingredient does

Fake chicken: Provides the protein; it is added late so it cooks through without overcooking.
Potatoes: Become tender in the simmering liquid and add body and starch to the sauce.
Tomatoes: Add acidity and moisture that help build the body of the curry base.
Onion: Softens and sweetens as it cooks, forming the flavor base of the curry.
Soy sour cream: Adds creaminess and tang to the finished sauce.

The step that matters

Stir-frying the spices with the aromatics. Cooking the curry powder, ginger, garlic, and turmeric briefly in hot oil blooms their fat-soluble aroma compounds. Too little heat leaves them raw and dull, while burning makes them bitter.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (onion, tomato, sauce, ginger, garlic, turmeric, potato):

Cuminfits better
Corianderfits better
Oreganofits better
Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against onion, tomato, sauce, ginger, garlic, turmeric, potato. 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
Potato	1 medium (173g) baked	161
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Yogurt	170g plain Greek	100
Grape	1/2 cup (76g)	62
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Wine	2 tbsp cooking wine (30ml)	25
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Turmeric	1 tsp ground (3g)	9
Soy Sauce	1 tbsp (15ml)	9
Chili	1 tsp (2.7g)	8
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Ginger	1 tsp grated fresh (2g)	2
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

Taurus Chinese Chicken Curry