Why it works: Parsley and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and 34,118 recipes mention both. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓
Mulligatawny Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Make the broth
Combine the chicken, some onion, carrot, celery, and veal with cold water in a large kettle.
Add the cloves and parsley, then boil until the chicken is nearly done, about 1 hour.
Remove the chicken pieces, trim them neatly, and set aside.
Let the veal simmer for an additional 3 hours.
Make the soup
Fry the remaining onion, carrot, and celery in butter in a pan until browned.
Stir in the flour and cook for 1–2 minutes until browned.
Add the curry powder, veal broth, and chicken pieces, then simmer gently for 1 hour.
Half an hour before serving, strain and skim the soup, returning it to the heat with chicken, apple, and rice.
Heat until hot 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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together34,118 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Chicken + ricetop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together4,569 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
-
Clove + peppertop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together13,144 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
-
Chicken + vealtop 5% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together2,243 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-butanedione (buttery, creamy).
-
Clove + parsleytop 6% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together4,841 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Flour
- Thickens the butter and vegetable base into a roux that gives the soup body.
- Butter
- Carries the frying of the vegetables and adds richness and flavor.
- Curry powder
- Provides the spiced aroma that defines the soup.
- Boiled rice
- Adds bulk and soft texture to the finished soup.
- Apple
- Adds mild sweetness and a touch of acidity to balance the curry.
The step that matters
Cooking the flour in the butter. Flour must be cooked in the hot fat until it is lightly browned, which removes its raw taste and helps it thicken evenly. Stirring constantly prevents lumps and scorching.
Flavor stand-ins for the clove
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chicken, parsley, veal, pepper, butter, flour, rice):
- Thymebetter flavor fit
- Celerybetter flavor fit
- Marjorambetter flavor fit
- Clovethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against chicken, parsley, veal, pepper, butter, flour, rice. 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).
“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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