Why it works: Ginger and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,038 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓
Kabob Curry
Ingredients
Directions
Cut the mutton into small pieces and halve the onions.
Slice the green ginger and green chillies or capsicums.
Skewer the meat, onion, chillies, green ginger, and garlic alternately on the skewers.
In a large stewpan, heat the ghee and add the curry powder; fry well.
Carefully add the skewers to the pan, rolling them for five minutes.
Pour in enough water to cover the skewers and add a little salt; boil for ten minutes.
Add the coconut or cow's milk and gently boil for another ten minutes.
Once the gravy thickens, add the tamarind water, vinegar, or lemon juice, and serve.
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.
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Ginger + clovetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together6,038 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together29,058 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
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Capsicum + coconuttop 4% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together843 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
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Ginger + coconuttop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,168 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Ginger + garlictop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,402 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 coconut
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (mutton, onion, capsicum, ginger, clove, garlic, ghee):
- Limefits better
- Coconutthe original
- Mangofits about as well
- Cherryfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against mutton, onion, capsicum, ginger, clove, garlic, ghee. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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