Why it works: Rice and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,379 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓
Curry Balls
Ingredients
Directions
Make the rice
Boil the rice in 2 cups of water, adding the butter, pepper, and salt.
When the rice is dry and tender, mix in the curry powder.
Beat 1 egg and bind the rice with it.
Form the mixture into balls.
Coat and fry
Dip the balls in the beaten egg, then coat them in breadcrumbs.
Fry the balls in oil or butter until golden brown.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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.
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Rice + peppertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,379 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Rice + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,645 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together85,593 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Rice + eggtop 28% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,350 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Rice
- Forms the bulk of the balls and gives them their starchy body once cooked and dried.
- Eggs
- Bind the rice mixture so the balls hold their shape, and the coating adheres.
- Breadcrumbs
- Form a crisp, golden crust when fried.
- Butter
- Adds richness and flavour to the rice and helps the coating brown in the frying fat.
- Curry powder
- Adds the spiced, aromatic flavour that defines the dish.
The step that matters
Dry the rice fully before binding. Rice that is still wet or sticky will make the mixture soft and hard to shape, and excess moisture can make the balls fall apart or steam instead of frying crisp. Cooking until the grains are dry and tender helps the egg bind the mixture firmly.
“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.
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