Skip to main content
Main

Akarange

A spicy tomato sauce made with onions, garlic, bell peppers, tomatoes, and spices, simmered until flavors meld.

From the Wikibooks Cookbook · 12 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Cumin and coriander match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,866 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

Akarange

Time15–20 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Cook the base

  1. Heat the vegetable oil in a large saucepan over medium heat.

  2. Add the chopped onion and minced garlic to the pan.

  3. Sauté until the onion becomes translucent and fragrant.

  4. Stir in the diced green and red bell peppers. Cook for a few minutes until they begin to soften.

Add the tomatoes and simmer

  1. Add the diced tomatoes to the pan, along with the ground paprika, ground cumin, ground coriander, and ground black pepper. Stir well to combine the ingredients.

  2. Pour in the water and season with salt to taste. Stir again to ensure the spices are evenly distributed.

  3. Bring the mixture to a simmer. Reduce the heat to low.

  4. Cover the saucepan and let the akarange cook for about 15–20 minutes, or until the tomatoes have softened and the flavors have melded together.

  5. Taste the sauce and adjust the seasoning if needed, adding more salt or spices according to your preference. Once the akarange is cooked to your liking, remove the saucepan from the heat.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

241Calories
4 gProtein
15 gFat
26 gCarbs

Counts 9 of 11 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 9 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Bell Pepper1 medium (119g)31
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Cumin1 tsp ground (2.1g)8
Clove1 tsp ground (2g)7
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Coriandernot in our table0
Waternot 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 Wikibooks Cookbook.

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. Cumin + coriandertop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,866 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  2. Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together29,058 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  3. Garlic + cumintop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,082 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  4. Tomato + coriandertop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,967 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).

  5. Tomato + cumintop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,272 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

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

What each ingredient does

Tomatoes
Break down into the main body and moisture of the sauce as they simmer.
Onion
Softens and turns sweet as it cooks, forming the flavour base of the sauce.
Garlic
Adds pungent aroma that mellows and deepens during gentle cooking.
Green and red bell peppers
Soften into the sauce, adding mild sweetness and body.
Vegetable oil
Carries fat-soluble flavour from the spices and onion and helps them brown lightly.
Ground paprika
Contributes colour and a mild, sweet earthy flavour to the sauce.

The step that matters

Simmer covered on low heat. Low, covered heat lets the tomatoes and peppers break down gradually and keeps liquid from evaporating too fast. Cooking too hot can scorch the base, while stopping too early leaves the vegetables raw and the flavours unmelded.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (onion, garlic, pepper, tomato, cumin, coriander):

  1. Oreganofits better
  2. Turmericfits better
  3. Thymefits better
  4. Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against onion, garlic, pepper, tomato, cumin, coriander. 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.

You might also like

Tomato SoupTomato Soup526 recipesCream of Tomato SoupCream of Tomato Soup107 recipesTomato BisqueTomato Bisque61 recipesCream Tomato SoupCream Tomato Soup28 recipes