Name: Family Meals: Mild Chicken Curry
Prep time: 10 min
Yield: Serves 2 adults, 1 child
Ingredients: 1-1½ tsp coconut oil (we used Fushi) or sunflower oil; 1 large onion , finely chopped; 2 fat garlic cloves , crushed; 1cm fresh ginger , grated or finely chopped; 1 tsp ground coriander; 1 tsp yellow mustard seeds; 1 tsp garam masala; ½ tsp ground cumin; 1 x 500g pack chicken pieces (thighs and drumsticks), or thighs; 1 chicken stock cube; 1 cinnamon stick; 250g Greek yogurt , at room temperature; 2 tbsp sultanas; handful chopped coriander , to serve (optional)

Why it works: Coriander and cumin match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,866 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

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.

Coriander + cumintop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together3,866 recipes

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

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together6,038 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together29,058 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Ginger + coriandertop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together3,505 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).
Garlic + cumintop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,082 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 coriander

The recipe marks coriander as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (coconut, onion, garlic, clove, ginger, mustard, cumin):

Turmericfits better
Corianderthe original
Cardamomfits about as well
Cinnamonfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against coconut, onion, garlic, clove, ginger, mustard, cumin. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Coconut	1/2 cup shredded (40g)	283
Chicken	100g cooked	165
Yogurt	170g plain Greek	100
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Cumin	1 tsp ground (2.1g)	8
Cinnamon	1 tsp ground (2.6g)	6
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Mustard	1 tsp (5g) yellow	3
Ginger	1 tsp grated fresh (2g)	2
Sunflower Oil	not in our table	0
Coriander	not in our table	0
Seed	not in our table	0

Family Meals: Mild Chicken Curry