Name: Hasa al-Khadr
Ingredients: 2 tablespoons olive oil (use the extra virgin if possible); 2 carrots, peeled and diced about 1/4 inch; 3 medium potatoes, peeled and diced about 1/2 inch; 1 medium onion, diced; 4 medium tomatoes, diced; 3 garlic cloves, crushed; 1 cup fresh cilantro, chopped fine; 7 cups vegetable broth (or mixed broth and water half and half); 2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger (a MUST); 2 teaspoons salt; 1 teaspoon black pepper; 1 teaspoon ground cumin

Why it works: Clove and ginger match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,038 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 + 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).
Olive + tomatotop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together15,539 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Olive + garlictop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together25,665 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Carrot + gingertop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,377 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

Olive oil: Carries the heat and blooms the aromatics, adding richness to the soup base.
Fresh ginger: Adds a sharp, warm aroma that defines the flavour of the soup.
Potatoes: Break down slightly as they simmer, giving the soup body and thickness.
Tomatoes: Add acidity and moisture, softening into the broth as it cooks.
Carrots: Add natural sweetness and firm texture to the soup.

The step that matters

Stir-frying the carrots, onions, garlic and ginger. Cooking the aromatics gently in oil until softened and fragrant builds the flavour base; browning garlic or ginger too hard turns it bitter.

Swap the clove

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

Cuminfits better
Corianderfits better
Thymefits better
Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against olive, carrot, potato, onion, tomato, garlic, ginger. 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
Potato	1 medium (173g) baked	161
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Cream	1 tbsp (15ml) heavy	51
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Carrot	1 medium (61g)	25
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Cumin	1 tsp ground (2.1g)	8
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Ginger	1 tsp grated fresh (2g)	2
Cilantro	1 tbsp chopped fresh (1g)	1
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Water	not in our table	0

Hasa al-Khadr

Hasa al-Khadr

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the soup base

Build and simmer

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)