Jamaican Curry Powder Substitutes: What to Use and How to Adjust It

Out of Jamaican curry powder? A jar of regular curry powder and a little allspice gets you most of the way there. The Jamaican blend is close to ordinary curry powder; Hank Shaw sums up the difference as more allspice and more turmeric.¹ So the trick is usually to adjust a substitute, not just use it straight from the jar. And if your recipe counts on the powder for heat, start from a hotter blend.

Quick answer

How the ratios on this page are labeled

Every ratio carries one of four labels.

• Computed: based on a measurable physical relationship.
• Attributed: a named source publishes this ratio. We quote it as theirs.
• Disputed: named sources give different answers to the same swap. You get each one, side by side.
• Method: our starting point, based on how the two compare. Taste and adjust.

The amounts below are worked out from the ingredient proportions of one published recipe, and we say where.

What makes Jamaican curry powder different

Here’s what two widely sold Jamaican brands list on their labels, next to the USDA’s minimum list for curry powder in general:

The core spices overlap: turmeric, coriander, cumin and fenugreek are on all three lists. Fenugreek is where that familiar “curry” smell comes from. The seed is strong, sweetish and somewhat bitter. Turmeric gives the yellow color.

The difference is allspice, which both Jamaican labels list and the USDA list doesn’t. Allspice’s flavor resembles a mix of cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg.⁵ Allspice isn’t exclusive to Jamaican blends, though, and Atlas Obscura notes there’s never been a set combination of spices in curry powder.⁶

Heat varies too. Grace’s mild powder lists no chile at all, while Blue Mountain lists cayenne.

If it is the base of a Jamaican curry

This is the usual job: curried goat, chicken or shrimp, where the powder gets cooked in oil and carries most of the spice flavor. Shaw cooks the powder in hot oil for a couple of minutes, stirring often, before the other ingredients go in.¹ Cook your substitute the same way.

1. Regular curry powder plus allspice

A standard curry powder already has the turmeric, coriander, cumin and fenugreek. Adding allspice brings the note that sets the Jamaican blend apart.

Ratio (Method): Use regular curry powder 1:1 and add about 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice per tablespoon. That figure comes from Mike Hultquist’s homemade Jamaican curry powder, which uses 1 tablespoon allspice in a batch of about 36 teaspoons,⁷ or roughly 1 part in 12. Brands differ, so taste and adjust.

Two more tweaks to try. If your curry powder is pale, a pinch of extra turmeric moves it closer, since turmeric leads both Jamaican labels. And if yours has cinnamon, ginger or cardamom, as the USDA list does, expect it to taste a bit sweeter and more perfumed than the Jamaican blends we checked.

2. Make your own

A basic homemade Jamaican curry powder, about 5 tablespoons: 2 tablespoons ground turmeric, 1 tablespoon ground coriander, 2 teaspoons ground cumin, 1 teaspoon ground fenugreek, 1 teaspoon ground allspice, 1 teaspoon ground black pepper, 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger and 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder. Add a pinch of cayenne or Scotch bonnet powder if you want heat. Use it 1:1.

Turmeric leads the mix, just as it leads both Jamaican labels, which fits Shaw’s point about Jamaican powders using more turmeric. If you’re grinding your own from whole spices, Hultquist warns not to let them burn when you toast them, since that turns them bitter.⁷

If the curry is meant to be hot

Jamaican curry powders run from mild to hot. If your recipe was written for a hot powder, or counts on it for heat, start from a hotter curry powder.

1. Madras curry powder

Madras curry powder was often promoted as spicier than the Bengal and Bombay styles, according to Julia Fine’s history for the merchant Diaspora Co.⁸ That’s marketing history, not a measurement, and blends vary: World Spice Merchants rates its own Madras blend 2 on a scale of 5. Its ingredient list (coriander, brown mustard seed, turmeric, cumin, fenugreek seed, black peppercorn and red chile flake, among others) shares the curry core but has no allspice.⁹

Ratio (Method): Use 1:1, add about 1/4 teaspoon allspice per tablespoon as above, and taste before adding any fresh chile.

2. Vindaloo curry powder

Vindaloo blends vary even more. Savory Spice says vindaloo spices tend to be quite hot but calls its own blend closer to medium,¹⁰ while America’s Test Kitchen’s homemade version promises “fiery complex heat.”¹¹ None of the three vindaloo blends compared on our vindaloo curry powder page lists allspice, and only one lists turmeric.

Ratio (Method): Start with half the amount, make up the rest with regular curry powder if you have it, add allspice, and taste.

What isn’t known

• We compared only two Jamaican brand labels. Other brands, and the hot versions Shaw mentions,¹ may differ.
• Some guides say Madras curry powder is darker or more orange than Jamaican powder, or that Scotch bonnet and scallions are essential to Jamaican curries. We found no source for either claim.
• We found no heat measurement of any Jamaican, Madras or vindaloo curry powder.

Related

• Jamaican curry powder and Jamaican vs. Indian curry powder
• Curry powder, Madras curry powder, Madras curry powder vs. curry powder, vindaloo curry powder and vindaloo vs. Madras curry powder
• Allspice, Jamaican spices and jerk seasoning
• Is curry powder spicy?