Name: Indian Sauce
Ingredients: ½ pint Brown Sauce; 1 teaspoon chopped green capsicums; 1 teaspoon chopped gherkins; 1 teaspoon chopped chives; 1 teaspoon mixed pickles; 1 teaspoon curry paste; 1 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce

Why it works: Capsicum and chive work together. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 695 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓

Indian Sauce

Ingredients

Directions

In a saucepan, combine ½ pint of Brown Sauce with 1 teaspoon each of chopped green capsicums, gherkins, chives, mixed pickles, curry paste, and Worcestershire Sauce.
Boil the mixture for one minute.
Serve immediately.

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.

Capsicum + chivetop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together695 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Sauce + capsicumtop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together7,011 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Sauce + chivetop 20% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together461 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

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

What each ingredient does

Brown sauce: Forms the base of the sauce, providing body and savoury flavour.
Curry paste: Adds spice and aroma that flavour the sauce.
Worcestershire sauce: Adds savoury depth and a touch of acidity.