What to use instead of tandoori masala
Quick answer
The closest option is Garam masala with Kashmiri chilli and Cumin and Coriander seed, rated good. Reproduces the spicing closely and the colour only partly. Kashmiri chilli gives a deep brick red, which is the traditional colour; the vivid scarlet associated with restaurant tandoori comes from added colouring rather than from any spice, and no combination of spices reaches it.
It will not do for: Cayenne in place of Kashmiri chilli, which makes the dish hot rather than red — the most consequential error with this blend; Expecting restaurant colour from spices alone.
All recorded options
Ranked by suitability. Ratios are given only where they are defensible, and always with their basis — by weight or by volume — because spice densities differ.
Garam masala with Kashmiri chilli and Cumin and Coriander seed
Good matchUse: 1× by volume — Four parts Kashmiri chilli powder to three parts ground coriander to two parts each cumin and garam masala, plus garlic and ginger powder, at the volume the recipe gives.
Reproduces the spicing closely and the colour only partly. Kashmiri chilli gives a deep brick red, which is the traditional colour; the vivid scarlet associated with restaurant tandoori comes from added colouring rather than from any spice, and no combination of spices reaches it.
| Flavour | Aroma | Colour | Heat |
|---|---|---|---|
| close | close | partial | similar |
Works for
- Yoghurt marinades for chicken, paneer, lamb and prawns
- Any case where a brick-red result is acceptable
Does not work for
- Cayenne in place of Kashmiri chilli, which makes the dish hot rather than red — the most consequential error with this blend
- Expecting restaurant colour from spices alone
Cuisine: None. This is a reconstruction of the same blend rather than a shift in tradition.
If the marinade tastes flat, the usual cause is a short marinating time rather than an under-spiced mix. Yoghurt needs several hours to carry the fat-soluble aromatics into the surface of the meat.
Curry powder with Kashmiri chilli
PoorUse: 1× by volume — Like for like, with Kashmiri chilli added for colour. Curry powder already carries turmeric, so no more is needed.
Shares the coriander, cumin and turmeric base and misses both the colour and the character. Curry powder is a British construction built for sauces and reads as yellow-brown rather than red, and it lacks the garam masala sweetness and the fenugreek leaf that make a tandoori marinade taste as it does. In yoghurt it produces something edible and not something anyone would call tandoori.
| Flavour | Aroma | Colour | Heat |
|---|---|---|---|
| partial | partial | partial | similar |
Works for
- A yoghurt-marinated grilled chicken when nothing better is available
- Dishes where the marinade is one element among several
Does not work for
- Anything served as tandoori chicken or tikka
- Cases where the brick-red colour is expected
- Delicate proteins, since curry powder is coarser in flavour than the blend it replaces
Cuisine: Moves a Punjabi dish towards a British Indian restaurant one, which is a real distance rather than a nuance.
The better route is to build the blend from garam masala and Kashmiri chilli, recorded separately. This record exists because curry powder is what most Western kitchens actually have.