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 ↓
Curry Powder, No. 1
Ingredients
Directions
Make the powder
Pound ginger, coriander seed, cayenne pepper, and turmeric separately to a fine powder.
Warm the powders by the fire and mix them together.
Store
Store the mixture in a wide-mouthed bottle, cork it well, and keep it in a dry place.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
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.
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Ginger + turmerictop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,776 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Ginger + coriandertop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together3,505 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).
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Coriander + turmerictop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,253 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Pepper + turmerictop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,478 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Coriander + peppertop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,949 recipes
Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Ginger
- Adds aromatic warmth and a pungent, spicy flavour to the blend.
- Coriander seed
- Contributes citrusy, floral aroma that forms the base of the blend.
- Cayenne pepper
- Provides heat that gives the powder its sharp, spicy bite.
- Fine pale turmeric
- Adds earthy flavour and the characteristic yellow colour of the curry powder.
The step that matters
Grinding each spice to a fine powder. Fine, even powders blend uniformly and release their aromatic oils quickly, so the mixture tastes consistent rather than gritty or patchy.
Swap the coriander
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (ginger, pepper, turmeric):
- Cardamomfits better
- Cuminfits better
- Corianderthe original
- Clovefits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against ginger, pepper, 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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