Why it works: Quinoa and coconut work together. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and 50 recipes mention both. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓
The recipe
12 servingsIngredients
Directions
Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.
Rinse the quinoa well. Put it in a pot with the salt and the first measure of water. Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer on low about 15 minutes until the water is absorbed. Rest covered 5 minutes, then fluff with a fork.
Heat the coconut oil in a large heavy pot over medium heat. Add the chopped onion and cook about 4 minutes until soft. Add the minced garlic and cook 1 minute more.
Add the chopped tomatoes, the second measure of water, the cinnamon stick, curry powder, and ground coriander. Stir well and simmer 5 minutes.
Stir in the red lentils. Cover and simmer on low about 15 minutes, stirring now and then, until the lentils are tender. Add a splash of water if the stew gets too thick.
Stir in the coconut milk, coconut powder, and molasses. Simmer uncovered 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Remove and discard the cinnamon stick. Stir in most of the chopped cilantro.
Spoon the quinoa into bowls and ladle the stew over it. Garnish with the remaining cilantro and serve hot.
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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Quinoa + coconuttop 7% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together50 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together29,030 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
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Garlic + tomatotop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together14,075 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
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Coconut + milktop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together2,642 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Onion + tomatotop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together20,622 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Flavor stand-ins for the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (quinoa, coconut, garlic, tomato, milk, molasses, cinnamon):
- Capsicumbetter flavor fit
- Sweet potatobetter flavor fit
- Potatobetter flavor fit
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against quinoa, coconut, garlic, tomato, milk, molasses, cinnamon. 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).
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