Alicha Spice Blend substitute

Best substitute

Homemade alicha blend

2 tbsp turmeric + 1 tbsp ground ginger + 1 tbsp granulated garlic + 2 tsp ground cardamom + 1 tsp ground coriander + ½ tsp ground fenugreek + ½ tsp black pepper

Best for kik alicha (yellow split peas)

Close match

There is no fixed recipe for alicha, but this is the shape of it: turmeric leading, ginger and garlic for warmth, cardamom to round it off and a whisper of fenugreek for depth.

Other alicha spice blend substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Turmeric, ginger and garlic only
Different taste
Per 1 tbsp alicha blend: 2 tsp ground turmeric + ½ tsp ground ginger + ½ tsp granulated garlic
The minimum viable version, and it is genuinely serviceable, because those three ingredients carry the colour and the basic warmth that define an alicha.
What changes
Best for
three-ingredient pantries, weeknight kik alicha, when you have no cardamom
It tastes plainer and slightly more medicinal than the full blend, because cardamom is what rounds turmeric's raw edge and without it the turmeric sits a little bitter and dusty on top. Using fresh grated ginger and real crushed garlic in the pot as well as the dried powders helps a lot here.
3Mild curry powder
Different taste
Use the same amount plus ½ tsp extra turmeric and ¼ tsp ground cardamom per tablespoon
The most available option, and it works, because curry powder is already a turmeric-based mixed blend rather than a chili-based one.
What changes
Best for
any supermarket, short notice, yellow split pea and vegetable stews
Curry powder is cumin and coriander led and often carries fennel and a little chili, so kik alicha made with it tastes distinctly South Asian rather than Ethiopian: earthier, more savoury and less floral. The extra turmeric and cardamom pull it back a long way. Check the label and avoid any blend with chili or cayenne high in the ingredient list, since heat is exactly what alicha is not supposed to have.
4Garam masala plus turmeric
Different taste
1 part garam masala to 2 parts turmeric, used 1:1 against the alicha amount
Garam masala brings the cardamom and warm aromatics, and turmeric brings the colour and the earthy base, which between them cover most of alicha's territory.
What changes
Best for
cooks who stock garam masala, when cardamom is only available inside a blend, meat stews
Garam masala is much more cinnamon and clove forward than alicha, so it pushes the dish sweet-spicy and darker in flavour, closer to a mild korma than to a kik alicha. Use less than you think, because the warm spices dominate quickly, and keep turmeric as the clear majority of the mix.
5Golden milk or turmeric latte blend
Close match
Use the same amount if it is unsweetened
An unlikely but genuinely close option, since these blends are built on exactly the trio alicha needs: turmeric, ginger and cardamom.
What changes
Best for
health-food aisles and coffee cupboards, when no curry powder is available, vegetable and lentil stews
Check the ingredients first. Many contain sugar, coconut milk powder or vanilla, all of which will make a savoury stew taste strange, and most contain cinnamon, which pushes the flavour sweet. An unsweetened one with turmeric, ginger, cardamom and black pepper is very close to a three-ingredient alicha with a bonus.
6Plain turmeric alone (least-bad option)
Different taste
Use the same amount against the blend
Turmeric on its own gives the right colour and almost none of the aroma, and it is the honest floor of this list.
What changes
Best for
when the cupboard genuinely holds one jar, getting the yellow colour right
Kik alicha made with only turmeric tastes flat and slightly bitter, because turmeric is earthy and medicinal without something aromatic beside it. The rescue is in the pot rather than the jar: grate in fresh ginger and crushed garlic while the onions cook, take your time with the onion stage, and you will be most of the way there without any blend at all.

What is Alicha Spice Blend?

Alicha Spice Blend is Alicha spice blend, ye'alicha kimem, is the deliberately mild Ethiopian seasoning built on turmeric with ginger, garlic and cardamom, used for gentle yellow stews such as kik alicha and alicha wot.

Cooking tips

Bloom the blend in the oil with the onions for a minute before any liquid goes in. Turmeric added straight to water tastes chalky and raw, and that dusty flavour never cooks out properly once the liquid is in.
Alicha dishes get their sweetness and body from a long slow onion stage rather than from spice heat, so do not rush the onions and do not compensate for a bland pot by adding more blend. Twenty more minutes on the onions beats another spoonful of turmeric every time.
If your kik alicha tastes flat, it almost always needs salt and a little more fat, not more spice. These are gentle dishes and they depend on being properly seasoned and properly enriched, which is easy to underdo when there is no chili masking anything.
Turmeric stains everything it touches, including plastic spoons, wooden boards and grout. Use metal or ceramic, and wipe splashes immediately rather than at the end of cooking.
Korarima, Ethiopian black cardamom, is the one component with no real supermarket equivalent. Green cardamom is brighter and more floral, so use about two-thirds as much as a recipe calls for in korarima and it will not overpower the dish.
Buy small quantities of ground turmeric and cardamom and replace them often. Both lose their aroma fast, and in a blend this simple, with nothing loud to hide behind, stale spice is immediately obvious.

Frequently asked questions

Can I just leave the alicha blend out?

You would be left with split peas or meat stewed with onion, which is edible but is not the dish. The minimum viable version is turmeric alone plus fresh ginger and garlic in the pot, and that genuinely produces something recognisable as kik alicha. Skipping the seasoning entirely produces something plain and pale, so if you have one yellow spice, use it.

Is alicha the same as berbere?

They are at opposite ends of the Ethiopian spice cupboard. Berbere is chili-driven, deep red and hot, carrying fenugreek, cardamom, ginger and korarima behind a wall of capsicum. Alicha is turmeric-driven, yellow and deliberately mild, with no chili in it at all. Swapping one for the other is not a substitution, it is cooking a different recipe: berbere in a kik alicha turns it into a kik wot.

Is alicha spicy?

No, and that is the entire point of it. Alicha dishes exist precisely because Ethiopian food is not all fiery: they are what you serve children, what you put on a shared plate to balance the hot stews, and often what appears at a fasting meal. Anyone expecting heat because the food is Ethiopian is looking at the wrong dish, and the correct response is not to add chili but to serve something spicy alongside it.

Can I use curry powder for kik alicha?

Yes, and it is the most practical shop-bought answer. Use it 1:1 and add half a teaspoon of extra turmeric and a quarter teaspoon of ground cardamom per tablespoon to steer it away from cumin and toward the right profile. Choose a mild blend with no chili in it. The dish will taste a little more South Asian than Ethiopian, and it will still taste good.

What is korarima and do I need it?

Korarima is Ethiopian black cardamom, a larger, smokier, more camphorous relative of the green cardamom pods sold everywhere, and it appears in most traditional Ethiopian blends including alicha. You do not need it to make a good alicha. Green cardamom used at about two-thirds the quantity gives you the same family of aroma in a brighter and more floral register, and most people would not identify what was missing.

Related substitutes

More spices & herbs substitutes

Alicha Spice Blend substitute

Other alicha spice blend substitutes

2Turmeric, ginger and garlic only

3Mild curry powder

4Garam masala plus turmeric

5Golden milk or turmeric latte blend

6Plain turmeric alone (least-bad option)