If you want to make Jamaican favorites like goat curry, your best shot at replicating the authentic taste will be to find a Jamaican curry powder blend. You should be able to find one if you have a Jamaican grocery store nearby. And some grocery stores may have a Jamaican section where you should be able to find it. However, Jamaican curry powder has a lot in common with several other curry powder styles. Let’s look at some of your best Jamaican curry powder substitutes.
Table of Contents
- Your best bet: Make your own
- A decent second choice: Standard curry powder
- In a pinch: Madras curry powder
- Other alternatives
- Must-read related posts
Your best bet: Make your own
When looking for a Jamaican curry powder substitute, you could make your own if you have a well-stocked spice rack. Not only does it allow you to use fresher spices, it may save you money as well. Making Jamaican curry powder is simple–> Make Your Ow and most of the ingredients are easy to find. Spices like turmeric and allspice can be found in many grocery stores. While an ingredient like fenugreek may prove more of a challenge, an Indian grocery store should have it in stock. By making your own blend, you can adjust individual spices to suit your preferred flavor profile.
–> Make Your Own: Fiery Jamaican curry powder recipe at PepperScale
A decent second choice: Standard curry powder
Basic curry powder blends are readily available in most grocery stores. They have many of the same ingredients that you will find in Jamaican curry powder, like cumin, coriander, and turmeric. These alternatives may not be as heavy on pungent spices, and that’s okay. Remember, much of the flavor in Jamaican curry dishes come from other ingredients that are added separately from the curry powder. By adding other flavorful ingredients, you can still arrive at a flavorful and authentic-tasting approximation of the dish.
For example, scallions and scotch bonnet peppers are essential ingredients that may be added at different points in the cooking process. You should also add allspice to get closer to the Jamaican curry powder flavor. Do not rely solely on the spices in the curry powder for the success of your dish.
Use curry powder as a 1:1 substitute for Jamaican curry powder.
In a pinch: Madras curry powder
Madras curry powder is considered the central ingredient in classic British curry dishes. It is usually hotter than standard curry powder blends because of its high red pepper content (often cayenne pepper.) But it has most of the same ingredients found in Jamaican curry powder. As a result of the red pepper, Madras curry powder will not usually be the bright yellow of most Jamaican curry powder blends; instead, it will be darker and closer to an orange color.
When using it as a Jamaican curry powder blend alternative, you’ll want to play with the addition of other aromatic ingredients. For instance, allspice is not typically a flavor found in Madras curry powder, but it’s a staple for the Jamaican version. One potential exception: the inclusion of scotch bonnets. There is already chili pepper in the Madras spice blend, so you may want to omit the inclusion of more.so
Use Madras curry powder as a 1:1 substitute for Jamaican curry powder.
Other alternatives
Vindaloo curry powder is somewhat hotter than Madras curry powder, so, again, you may want to omit any scotch bonnet pepper that the recipe requires. As with the Madras curry powder, you’ll also want to add allspice since it does not usually show up in vindaloo curry blends.
Must-read related posts
- Jerk Seasoning Guide: Learn more about another popular Jamaican spice blend.
- Jamaican Vs. Indian Curry Powder: How do these two seasoning types differ?
- What Are Some Of The Most Popular Jamaican Spices? Which can help you liven up Caribbean cuisine as you’d expect?