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Chicken Tikka Masala

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Chicken Tikka Masala

Why it works: Cinnamon and ginger match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,380 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Chicken Tikka Masala

4 servings
Prep30 min
Cook50 min

Ingredients

Directions

Step-by-step directions aren't available for this recipe. See the full recipe at the source →

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

487Calories
51 gProtein
22 gFat
22 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 14 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Chicken100g cooked165
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Yogurt170g plain Greek100
Cream1 tbsp (15ml) heavy51
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Lemonjuice of 1 lemon (48ml)12
Cumin1 tsp ground (2.1g)8
Chili1 tsp (2.7g)8
Cinnamon1 tsp ground (2.6g)6
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Ginger1 tsp grated fresh (2g)2
Cilantro1 tbsp chopped fresh (1g)1
Salt1 tsp (6g)0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By allrecipes. Recipe from Open Recipes.

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.

  1. Cinnamon + gingertop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,380 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Cumin + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,103 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-methoxybenzaldehyde (sweet, anise).

  3. Cumin + gingertop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,733 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  4. Lemon + peppertop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together27,047 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  5. Lemon + gingertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,154 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 lemon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (yogurt, cumin, cinnamon, pepper, ginger, chicken, butter):

  1. Limefits better
  2. Lemonthe original
  3. Mangofits about as well
  4. Coconutfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against yogurt, cumin, cinnamon, pepper, ginger, chicken, butter. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.