Why it works: Tomato and naan work together. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and 57 recipes mention both. Both carry 1-octen-3-ol, which smells mushroom, earthy. The science ↓
The recipe
Serves 4Ingredients
Contains: wheat (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Directions
Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.
Heat a large dry pan over medium-high heat, add the beef mince and cook, breaking it up, for about 5 minutes until browned and cooked through to 160°F (71°C).
Add the sliced red onion and curry powder and stir for 2 minutes until fragrant.
Stir in the dried red lentils and hot beef stock, bring to a simmer, then cover and cook on low for about 12 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the lentils are tender and most of the liquid is absorbed.
While the mince cooks, dice the tomatoes, chop the coriander leaves and toss them together in a bowl to make a fresh tomato salad.
Warm the mini naan in a dry pan over medium heat for 1 to 2 minutes per side, or in a 350°F (177°C) oven for 3 minutes.
Spoon the curried mince onto plates and serve with the warm naan and the tomato salad alongside.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
-
Tomato + naantop 9% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together57 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
-
Tomato + coriandertop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together3,966 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).
-
Onion + beeftop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together17,091 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Beef + tomatotop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together5,445 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Tomato + breadtop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together1,013 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Flavor stand-ins for the lentils
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (onion, beef, tomato, coriander, naan, bread):
- Chickpeabetter flavor fit
- Beansbetter flavor fit
- Peanutbetter flavor fit
- Lentilsthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against onion, beef, tomato, coriander, naan, bread. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).
The Sunday pairing: one pairing, the chemistry behind it, and how to cook it. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account for sign-in; Pro adds the full results and chemistry.