Name: Kari Ayam
Yield: 4
Ingredients: 1 lb (450 g ) boneless, skinless chicken parts; 5 Asian shallots , sliced (or ½ cup chopped onions ); 2 cloves garlic , minced; 1 tsp ginger , minced or grated; 1 tsp lemongrass , minced or grated; 6 kimiri (candlenuts), ground; 2 salam leaves (Indonesian bay leaves); 4 kaffir lime leaves; ½ tsp turmeric root , ground or grated; ½ tsp galangal root , ground or grated; 1 cup (240 ml ) coconut milk; ½ tsp salt (or to taste); 2 tbsp gula jawa; 2 tbsp cooking oil; 2 hot chiles (optional); ¼ tsp terasi (fermented shrimp paste)

Why it works: Ginger and turmeric match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,776 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. 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.

Ginger + turmerictop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,776 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Clove + gingertop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together6,038 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Ginger + limetop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,621 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Lime + turmerictop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together584 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Shallot + turmerictop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together282 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

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

What each ingredient does

Chicken parts: Provides the main protein; browning adds savoury flavour to the curry.
Kimiri (candlenuts): Ground into the paste, they add body and a rich, creamy texture to the sauce.
Coconut milk: Forms the creamy liquid base of the curry and mellows the spices.
Asian shallots: Sweeten and soften as they cook, adding aromatic depth to the sauce.
Gula jawa: Adds sweetness and caramel notes that balance the spices.

The step that matters

Browning the chicken. Browning the chicken over direct heat builds Maillard flavour on its surface. Crowding the pan or stirring too early causes steaming instead, leaving the meat pale and less flavourful.

Swap the coconut

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chicken, shallot, clove, garlic, ginger, lime, turmeric):

Lemonfits better
Avocadofits about as well
Coconutthe original
Mangofits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against chicken, shallot, clove, garlic, ginger, lime, 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.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Coconut	1/2 cup shredded (40g)	283
Chicken	100g cooked	165
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Shrimp	100g cooked	99
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Kaffir Lime	juice of 1 lime (44ml)	11
Turmeric	1 tsp ground (3g)	9
Lemongrass	1 tbsp (6g)	5
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Ginger	1 tsp grated fresh (2g)	2
Bay Leaf	1 leaf (0.6g)	2
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Galangal	not in our table	0

Kari Ayam

Kari Ayam

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the paste

Cook the curry

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)