Pomegranate seeds (arils) substitutes

The obvious answer that most people overlook, and the only substitute that is actually the same ingredient. Arils freeze unusually well because their juice is enclosed in a tough little sac, so they come out of the bag looking and tasting close to fresh. What changes: the sacs soften slightly, so the pop is a shade less crisp and a few will weep juice as they thaw. Scatter them still partly frozen and the difference is almost undetectable. Widely stocked in Middle Eastern and Turkish grocers year round and increasingly in ordinary supermarket freezers.

Best for

fattoush, tabbouleh and salads, garnishing muhammara, hummus and labneh, rice dishes and roast vegetables, desserts and yogurt bowls

Do not thaw them in a bowl of standing water or they will go limp. Tip them onto kitchen paper for a few minutes, or better, scatter them straight from the freezer onto the finished dish so they crisp as they come to temperature.

The best fresh substitute for the sensation of pomegranate arils, because redcurrants are also small translucent sacs of tart juice that burst under the teeth. The colour is right and the pop is right. What changes: redcurrants are more sour and less sweet than arils, and they have no crunchy inner seed, so you lose the faint nutty bite that arils have and the dish tastes sharper. On a labneh plate or a rice dish that sharpness is often welcome. They are highly seasonal, appearing in summer, which conveniently is when pomegranates are not around.

Best for

salads and grain bowls, garnishing labneh, yogurt and cheese, roast lamb and duck, desserts

Strip them off the stems with a fork rather than your fingers, which crushes them. Because they are tarter than arils, a scant pinch of sugar or a drizzle of honey over them first brings them closer if the dish is a sweet one.

This is what a Levantine cook does in June, and it is a better answer than most single-ingredient swaps because it splits the job in two. The toasted nuts take over the textural contrast - a crunch against the soft dip or salad - while the molasses supplies the tart-sweet, deeply pomegranate flavour and a dark glossy drizzle for visual contrast. What changes: the crunch is dry and nutty rather than a burst of juice, and the colour is mahogany rather than jewel red. On muhammara, hummus, labneh, fattoush or a plate of rice the result is genuinely excellent and does not read as a compromise.

Best for

muhammara, hummus and labneh, fattoush and chopped salads, rice and freekeh dishes, roast aubergine and cauliflower

Toast the nuts in a dry pan until they smell nutty and are just golden, not brown - pine nuts go from just right to burnt in about twenty seconds. Drizzle the molasses at the very last moment, since it soaks in and disappears if it sits.

The Persian pantry answer, and outstanding for the sour-red-jewel role. Barberries are small, bright red and intensely sour, and after a short soak they plump into soft tart beads that scatter beautifully. What changes: no pop at all - they are soft and chewy rather than juicy - and they are far more sour than arils, which is why you use half as much. On a rice dish, a roast chicken or a grain salad they are arguably better than pomegranate seeds. On a fresh fruit-forward dessert they are too aggressive.

Best for

rice dishes and pilafs, roast chicken and lamb, grain and lentil salads, stuffings

Rinse them well first, since they often carry grit, and soak briefly - too long and they turn to mush. A common Persian treatment is a quick toss in butter with a pinch of sugar over low heat for a minute, which softens the sourness and makes them glossy. Do not let them scorch, they burn fast and turn bitter.

The most likely thing to already be in your cupboard, and serviceable for colour and a fruity note. What changes: a good deal. Dried cranberries are sweetened and chewy, so where arils give a tart burst you get sugary chew, and a salad dressed with them tastes distinctly sweeter and less refreshing. Chopping them small helps them scatter like arils rather than sitting in lumps, and a squeeze of lemon or a few drops of pomegranate molasses tossed through them restores enough sourness to keep the dish balanced. Dried sour cherries are the better of the two, being less sweet.

Best for

grain salads, couscous and rice, stuffings and roasts, when only pantry ingredients are available

Soak them in warm water or lemon juice for ten minutes first so they are plump rather than leathery. Reduce any other sweetener in the dish, since sweetened dried fruit will tip a dressing off balance quickly.

The route to take when what you mainly need is a juicy burst and some red on the plate. Quartered seedless red grapes are crisp and release juice when bitten, and sour cherries even more so. What changes: scale and sweetness. Grapes are far larger than arils even quartered, so instead of a fine scatter you get chunks, and they are much sweeter and rounder, which makes a savoury salad read as a fruit salad. In a dish that already leans sweet, or one with sharp cheese and bitter leaves to balance it, they work well.

Best for

salads with feta or bitter leaves, roast pork, duck and chicken, cheese plates, yogurt and dessert bowls

Cut them small and pat them dry, or the juice will bleed and make a dressed salad soggy. A squeeze of lemon and a pinch of salt over the cut fruit sharpens it noticeably and is worth doing.

The honest minimalist option, and the right one surprisingly often. Sumac is ground dried berry with a dry, lemony sourness and a deep red colour, and on labneh, hummus, roast vegetables or a fattoush it delivers the tart brightness and the red flecks that pomegranate seeds were there to provide. What changes: no texture whatsoever, and no burst of juice, so a dish that relied on arils for contrast against something soft will feel flat in the mouth. Pair it with toasted nuts if the crunch mattered. As a flavour move alone it is excellent and takes no shopping.

Best for

labneh, hummus and yogurt dips, fattoush and chopped salads, roast aubergine, cauliflower and chicken, flatbreads

Sprinkle it at the table rather than in the kitchen - sumac dulls and turns brownish within a few minutes of hitting anything wet or oily. If your sumac is heavily salted, which many brands are, taste the dish before seasoning further.