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study published some years ago by the premier institute for higher studies in India, the Indian Institute of Technology, Jodhpur, Rajasthan, made an interesting revelation about the spices used in Indian food.

The report created ripples in the world of food science and gastronomy as it pointed out that food pairing in Indian cuisine is unlike Western cuisine.

The report’s co-author, professor Ganesh Bagler from the Center for Computational Biology, Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology, said from New Delhi that Indian cuisine is characterized by a unique contrasting pattern of food pairing.

He also added that spices form the molecular fulcrum of traditional Indian recipes.

Combining ingredients with very different flavors in one recipe is what gives Indian cuisine a very distinct taste.

Bagler gave the example of red chilli powder and cumin used widely in Indian cooking. These flavors, when paired together, share only six flavor molecules. “Flavor molecules give ingredients the sense of taste and smell peculiar to it,” he said.