Name: Kashmiri Raan
Ingredients: 1 tbsp poppy seeds; 4 cloves; 2 tbsps dessicated coconut; 3 pieces of mace; 2 onions chopped; 1/2 nutmeg; 2 tsp ginger / garlic paste; 2 tsp red chilly powder; 15 almonds blanched and chopped; 2 tsp salt; 2 sticks cinnamon; 1 tbsp aniseed; 6 green cardamoms; 1 kg. 500 gms leg of lamb; 3 black cardamoms; 1/2 cup oil; 1 cup yoghurt; 4 - 5 cups of water

Why it works: Clove and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,686 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. 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.

Clove + nutmegtop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together8,686 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Clove + gingertop 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).
Mace + nutmegtop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together6,557 recipes

Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
Nutmeg + gingertop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together3,324 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

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

What each ingredient does

Leg of lamb: Is the main protein that becomes tender through long, slow cooking in liquid.
Yoghurt: Adds acidity and moisture that helps tenderise the meat and balance the rich spices.
Oil: Fries the lamb's surface and carries the spices' aroma into the dish.
Almonds: Thicken the paste and add body and a mild nutty sweetness to the sauce.
Onions: Break down during cooking to add sweetness and body to the gravy.

The step that matters

Fry the leg on all sides. Searing the surface in hot oil builds browned flavour through the Maillard reaction. Turning it evenly keeps the paste from scorching in one spot.

Swap the poppy seed

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (clove, coconut, mace, onion, nutmeg, ginger, garlic):

Cinnamonfits better
Allspicefits better
Cardamomfits better
Poppy seedthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against clove, coconut, mace, onion, nutmeg, ginger, garlic. 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
Lamb	100g cooked	294
Coconut	1/2 cup shredded (40g)	283
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Nutmeg	1 tsp ground (2.2g)	12
Clove	1 tsp ground (2g)	7
Almond	1 almond (1.2g)	7
Cinnamon	1 tsp ground (2.6g)	6
Cardamom	1 tsp ground (2g)	6
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Ginger	1 tsp grated fresh (2g)	2
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Poppy Seed	not in our table	0
Mace	not in our table	0
Water	not in our table	0

Kashmiri Raan

Kashmiri Raan

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the paste

Cook the lamb

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)