Name: Curry No. 1
Ingredients: 6 oz turmeric powder; 8 oz coriander-seed powder; 4 oz black pepper; 2 oz fenugreek; 1 oz ginger; 1 oz cayenne powder; 1 oz scorched mustard; 1 oz cinnamon seeds; 2 drachms cardamoms

Why it works: Turmeric and cardamom match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 667 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓

Curry No. 1

Ingredients

Directions

Combine turmeric powder, coriander-seed powder, black pepper, fenugreek, ginger, cayenne powder, scorched mustard, cinnamon seeds, and cardamoms in a bowl.
Mix thoroughly until all spices are well blended.
Store in an airtight container away from light.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

Turmeric + cardamomtop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together667 recipes

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

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together229 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Cinnamon + cardamomtop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,299 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Turmeric + gingertop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,776 recipes

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

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together872 recipes

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

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

Swap the mustard

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (turmeric, coriander, pepper, fenugreek, ginger, cinnamon, cardamom):

Carrotfits better
Capsicumfits about as well
Spinachfits about as well
Mustardthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against turmeric, coriander, pepper, fenugreek, ginger, cinnamon, cardamom. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.