Recursive Multi Location Indexing

gistfile1.py

import sys
from collections import Sequence,defaultdict

#making code python3-compatible
if sys.version_info[0] == 3:
    basestring = str

def buildLocator(tree):
    locator = defaultdict(list)
    def fillLocator(tree, locator,location):
        for index,item in enumerate(tree):            
            if isinstance(item,basestring):
                locator[item].append(location+(index,))
            elif isinstance(item,Sequence):
                fillLocator(item,locator, location+(index,))
    fillLocator(tree,locator,())
    return locator

RECIPES = (
    ('apple', 'sugar', 'extreme_Force'),
    ('banana', 'syrup', 'magical_ends'),
    ('caramel', 'chocolate', 'pancake_MONSTER'),
    ('banana',('someAnother','banana'))
)
locator = buildLocator(RECIPES)

print(locator['banana'])

# Will print: [(1, 0), (3, 0), (3, 1, 1)]