Name: Good Vegetable Mullagatawny
Ingredients: 4 ounces butter; 4 large mild onions, sliced; 3 pounds young vegetable marrow, cut in large dice; 4 large or 6 moderate-sized cucumbers, pared, split, and seeded; 3 to 6 large acid apples, to taste; 3 heaped tablespoons mild curry powder; ⅓ cup coarse sea salt; boiling water (or broth/stock) as needed; optional: rice for serving

Why it works: Cucumber and rice match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 734 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓

Good Vegetable Mullagatawny

2 quarts

Ingredients

4 ounces butter
4 large mild onions, sliced
3 pounds young vegetable marrow, cut in large dice
4 large or 6 moderate-sized cucumbers, pared, split, and seeded
3 to 6 large acid apples, to taste
3 heaped tablespoons mild curry powder
⅓ cup coarse sea salt
boiling water (or broth/stock) as needed
optional: rice for serving

Directions

Prepare the vegetables

In a large stewpan or thick iron saucepan, melt the butter until just about to brown.
Add the sliced onions, vegetable marrow, cucumbers, and acid apples.
Stir often and cook over gentle heat until the vegetables are tender.
Mix in the curry powder and salt, and let the vegetables stew for an additional 20 to 30 minutes.

Make and finish the soup

Gradually add enough boiling water to just cover the vegetables.
Once reduced to a pulp, press the mixture through a fine sieve using a wooden spoon.
Heat the strained soup in a clean stewpan, adding enough liquid to make 2 quarts.
Adjust seasoning with salt, cayenne, or acid as needed, and serve hot.
If butter appears on the surface, skim it off or stir in a small amount of arrowroot mixed with cold broth or water to absorb it.

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.

Cucumber + ricetop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together734 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Onion + cucumbertop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together6,050 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Onion + ricetop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together10,433 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Apple + ricetop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,311 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Butter + appletop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together8,706 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

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

What each ingredient does

Butter: Adds richness and flavour when melted gently, carrying the curry spices into the vegetables.
Onions: Break down into sweetness and body as they cook slowly, thickening the soup.
Vegetable marrow: Softens into a pulp that gives the soup its main body and texture.
Cucumbers: Cook down to a mild, watery base that adds moisture and softness to the purée.
Acid apples: Add tartness that balances the curry and sweetness from the onions.
Curry powder: Provides the spiced aroma and warm flavour that define the soup.

The step that matters

Skimming or absorbing the butter. Butter that separates on the surface makes the soup greasy, so it should be skimmed off or absorbed with arrowroot mixed in cold liquid, which thickens without lumps.

Swap the apple

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, onion, cucumber, rice):

Avocadofits better
Coconutfits better
Mangofits better
Applethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, onion, cucumber, rice. 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.

Rice Fritters84 recipes

Steamed Rice48 recipes

Apple Soup33 recipes

Rice Griddle Cakes28 recipes

Like knowing why a recipe works?

The free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.

Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.

Good Vegetable Mullagatawny