To Curry Chicken

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. Onion + chickentop 8% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together17,814 recipes

   Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).

2. Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairs
   Smell alikelow
   Cooked together124,287 recipes

   Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

3. Onion + buttertop 15% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together42,912 recipes

   Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

4. Butter + chickentop 15% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together13,902 recipes

   Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).

5. Onion + flourtop 17% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together32,460 recipes

   Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

What each ingredient does

Onion

Browns in butter to build a sweet, savory base for the curry.

Butter

Carries the curry powder's flavor and adds richness as the fat for cooking.

Curry powder

Provides the main spice aroma, blooming when cooked briefly in fat.

Chicken or veal

Provides the main protein, cooked in the spiced mixture until tender.

Flour

Thickens the sauce so it clings to the meat and onion.

The step that matters

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, chicken, flour):

1. Leekfits better
2. Potatofits better
3. Shallotfits about as well
4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, chicken, flour. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.