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Spicy Indian Soup

A savory soup made with onions, butter, flour, mint leaves, walnuts, and spices.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Mint and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,372 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

Spicy Indian Soup

Time10 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Make the soup

  1. Heat the butter and fry the onions until they are transparent.

  2. Stir in the flour and cook until the flour is golden brown, taking care that no lumps form.

  3. Add crushed mint leaves, salt, pepper, and walnuts, and fry for a few minutes longer.

  4. Add 5 cups of water and sugar to taste, bring to a boil, and simmer for 10 minutes.

Serve

  1. Serve hot with toasted naans.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

682Calories
15 gProtein
15 gFat
120 gCarbs

Counts 7 of 8 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 7 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Walnut1 walnut half (4g)26
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Peppermintnot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

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.

  1. Mint + peppertop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,372 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  2. Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together68,474 recipes

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

  3. Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together124,287 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  4. Flour + walnuttop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,873 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Walnut + peppertop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,039 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

What each ingredient does

Onions
Soften and sweeten as they cook, forming the savory base of the soup.
Butter
Carries the frying of the onions and adds richness and flavor.
Flour
Browns and thickens the liquid, giving the soup body.
Walnuts
Add nutty flavor and a creamy, slightly thickening texture when cooked.
Mint leaves
Contribute a fresh, aromatic herbal flavor to the soup.

The step that matters

Cooking the flour until golden brown. Flour must be stirred constantly over heat so it browns evenly without lumps; if it is undercooked or left to clump, it tastes raw and the soup becomes grainy and uneven.

Swap the mint

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (onion, butter, flour, walnut, sugar, pepper):

  1. Cinnamonfits better
  2. Nutmegfits better
  3. Parsleyfits better
  4. Mintthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against onion, butter, flour, walnut, sugar, pepper. 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.

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