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Bangladesh Curry

A tomato-based chicken curry with ginger, garlic, green chilies, spices, yogurt, and lime, served over rice.

From the Wikibooks Cookbook · 17 ingredients
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Why it works: Cumin and turmeric match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,698 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓

Bangladesh Curry

Time30–40 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the tomatoes

  1. Nick the skin of each tomato with a sharp knife.

  2. Place tomatoes in a bowl and pour very hot water over them.

  3. Count to 20, then pour the water away.

  4. When tomatoes are cool, peel the skin.

  5. Halve the tomatoes.

  6. Squeeze out most of the pips and juice into an empty bowl, discard the rest.

  7. Roughly chop the flesh and set aside.

Prepare the aromatics

  1. Peel the onion.

  2. Finely chop the onion.

  3. Peel the ginger.

  4. Finely chop the ginger.

  5. Peel the garlic.

  6. Finely chop the garlic.

  7. Slit the chilli with a sharp knife.

  8. Slice the flesh away from the seeds in the middle.

  9. Avoid touching the chilli with your fingers; use a fork or gloves if needed.

  10. Chop the chilli finely.

  11. Measure the ground spices into a teacup.

Make the sauce and cook the chicken

  1. Fry the onion in vegetable oil in a large heavy-based saucepan over low to medium heat for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally until golden brown. Watch to avoid burning.

  2. Add the ginger, garlic, and chilli to the pan, stir and fry for about one minute.

  3. If desired, include some or all of the chilli seeds for extra heat.

  4. Add the spices from the cup into the onions.

  5. Fry the spices for one to two minutes, stirring constantly so they do not stick.

  6. Add salt and freshly ground black pepper.

  7. Pour water and tomatoes into the pan.

  8. Bring to a boil. Turn down the heat a little.

  9. Let the sauce simmer for 5–10 minutes.

  10. Add the chicken pieces to the pan. Stir to cover the chicken with the sauce.

  11. Put a lid on the pan. Turn the heat down and let the chicken cook for 30–40 minutes, stirring occasionally.

  12. Add the yoghurt to the chicken and stir it in.

Finish and serve

  1. When the sauce is gently bubbling again, scoop a little in a teaspoon, blow it cool, and taste it.

  2. Cut the lime in half and squeeze its juice into the sauce.

  3. Stir and taste again, and decide whether to add the second half.

  4. Chop the fresh coriander leaves.

  5. Sprinkle them on the curry just before serving with rice.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

608Calories
39 gProtein
19 gFat
72 gCarbs

Counts 13 of 15 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 13 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Rice1 cup cooked (158g) white206
Chicken100g cooked165
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Lemonjuice of 1 lemon (48ml)12
Limejuice of 1 lime (44ml)11
Turmeric1 tsp ground (3g)9
Cumin1 tsp ground (2.1g)8
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Ginger1 tsp grated fresh (2g)2
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 + turmerictop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,698 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  2. Coriander + cumintop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,866 recipes

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

  3. Ginger + turmerictop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,776 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  4. Ginger + clovetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,038 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

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

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

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 sauce, adding body, moisture and mild acidity.
Onion
Browns and sweetens as it fries, forming the base flavour of the sauce.
Chicken
Provides the protein; it cooks gently in the sauce, absorbing its flavour.
Yoghurt
Adds tang and creaminess to the sauce, mellowing its richness.
Vegetable oil
Carries the flavour of the spices and helps the onion brown.
Lime
Adds acidity that brightens the sauce and balances the spices.

The step that matters

Frying the spices. Ground spices must be fried briefly in oil, stirred constantly, to release their aroma. Too little heat leaves them raw and dusty; too much scorches them and makes the curry bitter.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tomato, ginger, garlic, clove, coriander, cumin, turmeric):

  1. Eggplantfits better
  2. Capsicumfits better
  3. Carrotfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against tomato, ginger, garlic, clove, coriander, cumin, turmeric. 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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