Name: Keralan Vegetable Stew
Yield: 6
Ingredients: ½ coconut , freshly grated; 1½ cups boiled vegetables ( carrots , green beans , potatoes , peas , etc.); 2 Tbsp oil; 1 onion , diced; 1 very small piece of ginger , chopped; 2–5 green chillies (as desired), split lengthwise; 10 curry leaves; 4 cloves; 2 small pieces cinnamon; 2 pods green cardamom; 1 Tbsp vinegar; 1 Tbsp flour or rice flour or cornstarch; 1 pinch of salt; 1 tsp ground black pepper; 1 tsp mustard seed; 1 shallot

Why it works: Ginger and clove 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.

Ginger + clovetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together6,038 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Green beans + peastop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together54 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).
Carrot + gingertop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,377 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Potato + oniontop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together9,023 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Carrot + potatotop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together3,107 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).

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

What each ingredient does

Coconut: Its milk gives the stew a rich, creamy body and a mild sweetness.
Boiled vegetables: Make up the bulk of the stew and add texture and substance.
Onion: Browning builds sweetness and savoury depth in the base of the stew.
Flour or rice flour or cornstarch: Thickens the coconut milk sauce so it coats the vegetables.

The step that matters

Remove from the flame when it starts to boil once more. Coconut milk can separate, curdle or turn grainy if it boils hard for long, so it should be taken off the heat as soon as it returns to a boil.

Swap the coconut

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (carrot, green beans, potato, peas, onion, ginger, clove):

Limefits better
Cherryfits about as well
Coconutthe original
Lemonfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against carrot, green beans, potato, peas, onion, ginger, clove. 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
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Coconut	1/2 cup shredded (40g)	283
Rice	1 cup cooked (158g) white	206
Potato	1 medium (173g) baked	161
Vegetable	1 tbsp (14g)	120
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Pea	1/2 cup (72g)	62
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Bell Pepper	1 medium (119g)	31
Carrot	1 medium (61g)	25
Clove	1 tsp ground (2g)	7
Shallot	1 tbsp minced (10g)	7
Cinnamon	1 tsp ground (2.6g)	6
Cardamom	1 tsp ground (2g)	6
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Vinegar	1 tbsp (15ml) distilled	3
Mustard	1 tsp (5g) yellow	3
Ginger	1 tsp grated fresh (2g)	2
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Seed	not in our table	0

Keralan Vegetable Stew