Ingredient substitutes

Out of buttermilk, baking powder or cream in the middle of a recipe? Search the list for what you need and use what is already in the kitchen. 37 swaps, with the amounts.

What are you missing?

If you do not have	Use	Good to know
Buttermilk, 1 cup	1 cup milk + 1 tablespoon lemon juice or white vinegar	Stir and leave for 5 to 10 minutes until it looks slightly curdled. Or thin 3/4 cup curd with 1/4 cup water.
Baking powder, 1 teaspoon	1/4 teaspoon baking soda + 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar	No cream of tartar? Use 1/4 teaspoon baking soda and replace 1/2 cup of the liquid in the recipe with curd or buttermilk.
Baking soda, 1 teaspoon	3 teaspoons baking powder	The taste can turn slightly salty, so reduce the salt a little. Works best in small amounts.
Self-raising flour, 1 cup	1 cup maida + 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder + 1/4 teaspoon salt	Sift together twice so the baking powder spreads evenly.
Cake flour, 1 cup	1 cup maida, remove 2 tablespoons, add 2 tablespoons cornflour	Sift well. Gives a softer crumb in sponge cakes.
Egg, 1 (in cakes and muffins)	1/4 cup thick curd, or 1/4 cup mashed ripe banana	Also: 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed stirred into 3 tablespoons water and rested for 10 minutes. These replace the binding, not the lift, so do not skip the baking powder.
Unsweetened baking chocolate, 30 g	3 tablespoons cocoa powder + 1 tablespoon butter or oil	Melt the butter and stir the cocoa in.
Butter, 1 cup (in baking)	About 3/4 cup oil or ghee	Butter is about four-fifths fat and the rest is water and milk solids, so you need less oil. The texture will be softer and less crumbly.
Unsalted butter	Salted butter	Reduce the salt in the recipe by about 1/4 teaspoon for every 1/2 cup (about 115 g) of butter.
Maida	Atta (whole wheat flour)	Replace up to half the maida with atta in cakes and cookies and add a spoon or two of extra liquid. A full swap gives a denser result.
Fresh yeast, 10 g	4 to 5 g active dry yeast, or 3 to 3.5 g instant yeast	Active dry yeast is first dissolved in warm water. Instant yeast is mixed straight into the flour.
Breadcrumbs	Crushed rusk or dry toast	For coating cutlets you can also use sooji or coarsely powdered poha.
Brown sugar, 1 cup	1 cup white sugar + 1 tablespoon molasses	In Indian kitchens, powdered jaggery works in most recipes. The flavour is deeper.
Caster sugar	Ordinary sugar, ground for a few seconds in the mixer	Stop before it turns to powder.
Icing sugar, 1 cup	1 cup sugar ground to a fine powder with 1 tablespoon cornflour	Sieve before use.
Honey, 1 cup	1 1/4 cups sugar + 1/4 cup water	Useful in baking. The honey flavour will be missing.
Sugar	Jaggery (gur), equal weight	Jaggery is a little less sweet. Add it to milk after the milk has cooled slightly, because jaggery can curdle very hot milk.
Fresh cream (in gravies)	Whisked malai, or cashew paste	For a recipe that needs 1 cup of heavy cream for cooking, 3/4 cup milk + 1/4 cup melted butter works. It will not whip.
Sour cream	Hung curd	Tie curd in a muslin cloth for an hour to drain the whey.
Mayonnaise	Hung curd with a little mustard and salt	Lighter, and good in sandwiches and salads.
Paneer	Firm tofu	Press out the water first. Tofu is softer, so add it at the end.
Khoya (mawa)	Milk powder cooked with a little ghee and milk	Stir on low heat until it comes together into a soft lump.
Coconut milk, 1 cup	1 cup grated fresh coconut blended with 1 cup warm water, strained	In gravies, cashew paste thinned with water gives similar body.
Lemon juice, 1 teaspoon	1/2 teaspoon vinegar	In Indian cooking, amchur or tamarind can give the sourness instead.
Vinegar, 1 teaspoon	2 teaspoons lemon juice
Tamarind	Lemon juice, kokum, amchur or raw mango	Add lemon juice at the end of cooking, off the heat.
Amchur (dry mango powder)	A squeeze of lemon at the end, or anardana powder
Fresh herbs, 1 tablespoon	1 teaspoon dried herbs	Dried herbs are stronger. Add them earlier in the cooking.
Fresh ginger, 1 tablespoon grated	1/4 teaspoon dry ginger powder (sonth)	Sonth is sharper and less fresh in taste.
Garlic, 1 clove	1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
Kashmiri red chilli powder	Paprika with a pinch of ordinary red chilli powder	Gives the colour without too much heat.
Garam masala	Equal parts roasted cumin and coriander powder, with a pinch each of cinnamon, clove and black pepper	A rough stand-in for one dish, not a full blend.
Green cardamom	Equal parts cinnamon and nutmeg, half the amount	For sweets and tea when the elaichi jar is empty.
Saffron (for colour only)	A pinch of turmeric	The colour is close. The flavour is not, so use very little.
Cornflour, 1 tablespoon (to thicken)	2 tablespoons maida, or 1 tablespoon arrowroot	Mix with cold water first, then stir into the hot liquid and cook for a few minutes.
Cashew paste	Soaked melon seeds (magaz) or blanched almonds, ground	Gives white gravies the same body.
Poppy seed (khaskhas) paste	Cashew or melon seed paste

Before you swap

A substitute gets you through the recipe. It rarely tastes exactly the same, so try it first in everyday cooking, not on the day guests come.
In baking, change one ingredient at a time. Two swaps in one cake make it hard to know what went wrong.
Sour swaps such as lemon juice go in at the end of cooking, off the heat, so they do not turn bitter.

Questions people ask

What can I use instead of eggs in a cake?

For each egg, a quarter cup of thick curd or mashed ripe banana works in most simple cakes and muffins. They bind the batter, so keep the baking powder or soda in the recipe for the rise.

Can I use baking soda instead of baking powder?

Only with something sour. A quarter teaspoon of baking soda with half a cup of curd or buttermilk does the work of one teaspoon of baking powder.

Is cornflour the same as makki ka atta?

No. Cornflour in Indian shops is the fine white starch used for thickening. Makki ka atta is yellow maize flour for rotis. One cannot replace the other.

Ingredient substitutes

Before you swap

Questions people ask

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