Ingredient substitutesશું બદલે વાપરવું?

You are halfway through cooking and one thing is missing. Here is what you can use instead, and what changes when you do.

Eno — use instead

¾ tsp baking soda + 1 tsp lemon juice — add both at the last moment and steam at once
1 tsp baking powder — rises less, but it works

Sour curd — use instead

plain curd + ½ tsp lemon juice
buttermilk — reduce the water accordingly

Tamarind — use instead

kokum — gives a darker colour
½ tsp dried mango powder
lemon juice — only after the heat is off

Jaggery — use instead

the same quantity of sugar — the colour and depth are lost
brown sugar

Kasuri methi — use instead

fresh fenugreek leaves, twice as much — they release water, so adjust
nothing — nothing else really replaces it

Fresh coconut — use instead

desiccated coconut soaked 15 minutes in warm water — use about half the quantity
frozen grated coconut — use straight from frozen

Cream — use instead

milk with a spoon of butter stirred in
cashew paste — soak 10 cashews 15 minutes and grind

Paneer — use instead

tofu — different texture, fine in a gravy
boiled potato — in kofta or bhurji

Asafoetida — use instead

garlic and onion — not an option for a fast or a Jain kitchen
nothing — the tempering will taste a little flat

Green chillies — use instead

red chilli powder — colour changes, heat stays
black pepper — a good option for children

Garam masala — use instead

coriander-cumin powder with a pinch of crushed cinnamon and clove
chaat masala — it will add sourness

Papad khar — use instead

a pinch of baking soda — fine for khichu and khaman
nothing — the texture comes out slightly denser

Gram flour — use instead

roast any gram flour you have — raw flour tastes bitter
corn flour — only for thickening

Bottle gourd — use instead

ridge gourd
cabbage or carrot — in handvo and muthiya

Surti papdi — use instead

val papdi
French beans — undhiyu tastes a little different

Rice flour — use instead

corn flour — for crispness
fine semolina

Curry leaves — use instead

dried curry leaves — much less aroma
nothing — it will be missed in a South Indian dish

Peanuts — use instead

cashews
sesame seeds — in chutney and stuffing masala

Why this page exists

You find out at the worst possible moment. The batter is whisked and the Eno bottle is empty, or the sabzi is already tempered and there is no kasuri methi left in the box. It feels like a choice between running to the shop and spoiling what you have started, and there is almost always a third option that nobody remembers under pressure. This page is that third option. Search for the ingredient you do not have and it tells you what to use instead and, just as importantly, what changes in the dish as a result, because no substitution is actually free.

How to use it

Read the note next to the substitute, not only the name. The note is where the real information is: halve the quantity, the colour will darken, it will rise less. Taking the name and skipping the note is how half of substitutions go wrong.
Expect the quantity to change. Desiccated coconut replaces fresh at about half the amount and wants fifteen minutes in warm water first. Half a teaspoon of amchur stands in for a whole piece of tamarind.
Some substitutions are about timing. Soda and lemon go in at the very last moment and straight into the steamer. Lemon juice in place of tamarind goes in only after the heat is off, or it turns bitter.
Nothing is a legitimate answer. Kasuri methi and curry leaves have no real replacement; the dish will still work without them and taste slightly different, which is better than tasting slightly wrong.
Change one thing at a time, and check the substitute against the kitchen you are cooking in. Garlic and onion for asafoetida is no use on a fast day or in a Jain household, so a suggestion appearing on screen does not mean it fits.

Swap what an ingredient does, not what it is

Every ingredient is doing a job: leavening, souring, thickening, adding fat, adding aroma. Once you can name the job, substituting is straightforward. Soda with lemon juice replaces Eno because together they do the same job. Corn flour stands in for besan when besan was only there to thicken, and the note says exactly that, only for thickening. The trouble starts with ingredients that are not doing a job but are the flavour itself. Kasuri methi, curry leaves, asafoetida, fresh coconut: these do not blend into the dish, they define it. Leaving one out is better than putting something else in its place, because a missing flavour is easier to eat than a wrong one.

What to keep in the house so you rarely need this page

Substitution is nearly always needed for the same three kinds of thing: acid, leavening and aroma. For acid, keep two of lemon, tamarind and amchur powder. For leavening, keep both Eno and baking soda, and check the dates, because old leavening is the commonest reason khaman come out flat. For aroma, keep asafoetida, kasuri methi, sesame seeds and whole spices, all of which last months and none of which has a good stand-in. Add peanuts, a few cashews, desiccated coconut and corn flour. With that shelf, most cooking does not stop, and you only reach for substitutes when something fresh has run out.

Leavening and acid are where timing decides everything

These are the two substitutions you cannot correct halfway, so they deserve attention. Soda and lemon juice start fizzing the moment they meet, and that fizz is what lifts the batter. Add them and then go looking for a bowl, or keep stirring, and the air is gone and the khaman sit flat. So have the steamer already boiling, add at the end, fold once gently, pour and cover. Acid runs the other way: lemon juice added to something still bubbling changes flavour and can turn bitter, so it goes in after the flame is off. Tamarind and kokum can be boiled; lemon juice should not be.

Which dishes forgive a substitution and which do not

Before you swap anything, ask how tolerant the dish is. Sabzi, dal, pulao and stuffing masalas have a lot of slack, because the flavour is built from many things and the others cover for the one you changed. That is why cabbage or carrot works in place of dudhi in handvo and muthiya. At the other end sit khaman, dhokla, khichu, sugar syrup for sweets, and anything baked. There the ratio and the chemistry both have to be right, and one change shifts the whole texture. With those dishes, going to the shop is usually cheaper than improvising, because when they fail they fail completely.

Questions people ask

Can I make khaman without Eno?

Yes. Use three quarters of a teaspoon of baking soda with a teaspoon of lemon juice, added at the very end, folded in gently and poured into an already boiling steamer. A teaspoon of baking powder also works but rises less. Whichever you use, the steamer must be at a rolling boil before the batter goes in.

Can sugar replace jaggery?

Yes, in the same quantity, and the dish will work. What you lose is the colour and the depth jaggery gives, which shows most in dal, undhiyu and chikki. Brown sugar gets a little closer. Going the other way, jaggery in place of sugar also changes the moisture and colour, so it is not as simple a swap.

What can I use instead of kasuri methi?

Honestly, nothing. Twice the quantity of fresh fenugreek leaves is the closest option, but they release water and will thin a gravy. The aroma of kasuri methi comes from the drying itself and nothing else in an Indian kitchen carries it. Cook the dish without it and buy some for next time.