Name: A Dry Curry, or Curry Without Gravy
Ingredients: 1 tablespoon curry powder; 1 teaspoon turmeric powder; 1 clove garlic; salt to taste; water as needed; large piece of butter

Why it works: Turmeric and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,876 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓

A Dry Curry, or Curry Without Gravy

Ingredients

Directions

Cut a chicken into pieces.
In a mortar, combine curry powder, turmeric, a little water, and garlic; beat well.
Rub the mixture over each piece of chicken.
Add salt and a little water.
Melt butter in a stewpan and add the chicken.

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 + clovetop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,876 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Turmeric + garlictop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together3,363 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Clove + garlictop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together11,368 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Garlic + buttertop 22% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together10,572 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Clove + buttertop 23% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together14,045 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).