Tikka Masala Paste substitute

Substitutes for Tikka Masala Paste with ratios

1. 2Tandoori paste or tandoori masala paste

   Different texture

   Use the same amount plus 1 tbsp tomato paste per 3 tbsp

   The closely related jarred paste made for marinating tandoori chicken, with the same spice family and more colour.

   What changes

   Best for

   chicken tikka masala, marinating chicken, paneer or cauliflower, when tandoori paste is what your shop stocks, getting a stronger red colour

   Very close, and in fact tandoori paste is the more traditional starting point since chicken tikka is tandoori-marinated chicken to begin with. The differences: tandoori paste is more heavily coloured and usually more acidic, because it is designed to work with yoghurt on raw meat, and it carries less tomato and onion body. So the curry comes out redder and tangier and slightly thinner. The tablespoon of tomato paste restores the body and softens the acidity.

2. 3Rogan josh, balti or korma paste

   Different taste

   Use the same amount plus 1 tbsp tomato paste and ½ tsp paprika per 3 tbsp

   Any mild-to-medium jarred Indian curry paste, adjusted toward tikka masala's tomato-and-paprika profile.

   What changes

   Best for

   using an open jar rather than buying another, chicken, lamb or vegetable curries, weeknight cooking, family meals where mild is the priority

   All work fine and nobody will complain. Rogan josh paste brings more clove, cardamom and fennel, so the curry tastes warmer and more perfumed; balti paste is a little sharper and often has fenugreek leaf already, which suits this well; korma paste is sweeter and usually contains coconut or almond, so the result comes out closer to a butter chicken than a tikka masala. In every case the added tomato paste and paprika are what stop the finished sauce looking pale and tasting off-profile.

3. 4Jarred tikka masala simmer sauce

   Taste and texture differ

   About 1 cup (240 ml) of sauce in place of 3 tbsp of paste; omit the tinned tomatoes, stock and most of the cream the recipe adds

   The ready-made finished sauce, a genuinely different product that is sold in a very similar jar.

   What changes

   Best for

   the fastest possible dinner, when the shop only had the sauce, cooking for one or two, reheating leftover cooked chicken

   This is the swap most likely to go wrong, purely through quantity. Paste is a concentrate meant to be fried and then diluted; simmer sauce is already diluted, sweetened and thickened. Substituting spoon for spoon leaves the curry watery and bland, and substituting jar for spoonful leaves you with far too much liquid unless you drop the other wet ingredients. It also tastes sweeter and smoother than a paste-based curry, since manufacturers add sugar and cream. Add a teaspoon of garam masala and some crushed kasoori methi to give it back some edge.

4. 5Madras or hot curry paste plus tomato and cream

   Different taste

   Per 3 tbsp tikka masala paste: 2 tbsp Madras paste + 1 tbsp tomato paste + an extra 2 tbsp cream or coconut milk at the end

   A hotter paste toned down toward tikka masala's mild, creamy profile.

   What changes

   Best for

   cooks who only keep hot pastes, chicken and lamb, people who find tikka masala too mild anyway, curries served with plenty of rice and yoghurt

   Works well as long as you handle the heat. Madras paste is considerably hotter and more cumin- and mustard-forward, so the curry tastes sharper and more South Indian, and the extra cream is what pulls it back toward the mellow, rich character tikka masala is known for. Use two thirds the quantity if your brand is fierce. A teaspoon of sugar helps too, since commercial tikka pastes are lightly sweetened and Madras paste is not.

5. 6Curry powder plus tomato paste

   Different taste

   Per 3 tbsp tikka masala paste: 1 tbsp curry powder + 2 tbsp tomato paste + 1 tbsp oil + 2 crushed garlic cloves + 1 tsp grated ginger

   The pantry-only version, honest about being a step down.

   What changes

   Best for

   no Indian pastes or blends in the house, chicken, chickpeas or cauliflower, cooking abroad with a limited shop, mild versions for children

   It makes a decent creamy tomato curry, but it will not taste like tikka masala and it is worth knowing why. Curry powder is turmeric- and fenugreek-seed-led, which gives a mustard-yellow, earthy, slightly bitter flavour, where tikka masala should be red-orange, warm and faintly sweet. If you can add anything at all, add 1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon or cardamom for warmth and 1/2 teaspoon of paprika for colour, and fry the mixture hard in oil before the liquid goes in.