Why it works: Fenugreek and turmeric match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 229 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓
Curry Powder
Ingredients
Directions
Reduce all ingredients to a fine powder.
Mix thoroughly and pass through a sieve.
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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Fenugreek + turmerictop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together229 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Allspice + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,536 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Ginger + turmerictop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,776 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Ginger + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together6,380 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Allspice + gingertop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,620 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Black pepper
- Adds sharp, pungent heat that gives the blend its bite.
- Turmeric
- Provides the yellow colour and earthy, bitter warmth typical of curry powder.
- Coriander seeds
- Contribute citrusy, floral aroma as the main body of the blend.
- Fenugreek seed
- Adds a distinctive bittersweet, maple-like aroma characteristic of curry.
- Cinnamon bark
- Adds warm, sweet aromatic notes that round out the spice blend.
- Ginger
- Adds warm, peppery, aromatic pungency to the blend.
The step that matters
Grinding to a fine powder. Whole spices release aroma only when their cell walls are broken, so a coarse grind leaves the blend flat and uneven. Sieving removes large fragments so the mix tastes consistent throughout.
Swap the mustard
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pepper, allspice, ginger, fenugreek, cinnamon, turmeric, coriander):
- Capsicumfits about as well
- Carrotfits about as well
- Mustardthe original
- Eggplantfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against pepper, allspice, ginger, fenugreek, cinnamon, turmeric, coriander. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“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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