Khmeli Suneli Substitutes: Make It, or Build It From What You Have

No khmeli suneli? Mix a quick version yourself from as much of its backbone as you can find: coriander, fenugreek and dried marigold. There’s no fixed recipe for Georgia’s everyday blend anyway; Benjamin Kemper, writing in Saveur, notes that the taste varies with each merchant’s formula.¹ Saveur’s four-ingredient version is easy to mix, and if you can’t get blue fenugreek or marigold, ordinary fenugreek and safflower can fill in, though neither is an exact match.

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.

If khmeli suneli is the main seasoning: make it

Georgian cooks use the blend in meat and vegetable stews, in the sauces the cuisine is known for, and with walnuts. Saveur names pkhali, a spinach-and-walnut pâté, and badrijani nigzvit, eggplant rolls filled with walnut paste. In dishes like these the blend is the flavor, so it’s worth mixing your own.

Saveur’s recipe

Ratio (Attributed): Saveur’s editors combine 2 tablespoons (11 g) ground coriander seed, 1 tablespoon (7 g) ground blue fenugreek, 1¼ tablespoons (7 g) sweet paprika and 2 tablespoons (3 g) ground marigold blossoms. Use it one for one in place of store-bought khmeli suneli. Saveur says to keep it in a tightly closed jar somewhere cool and dry and use it within 3 months.²

If you can’t get blue fenugreek or marigold

• Blue fenugreek. This is a relative of the fenugreek in Indian cooking. Katzer notes that people sometimes mix the two up, especially in Georgian recipes.³ In Georgia its dried seed is sold on its own as utskho suneli.⁴ No source we found says how close ordinary fenugreek comes. Use about half as much ground ordinary fenugreek as the recipe’s blue fenugreek, and taste.
• Marigold. Katzer says the yellow flowers in Georgian cooking are usually marigold (Tagetes erecta), with a mild, honey-like scent that disappears on cooking. Safflower can stand in, he says, though it has even less flavor.⁵ Kemper says marigold gives the blend color and earthiness.¹ Swap in ground safflower one for one by volume, or leave the marigold out and let the paprika handle the color. The “saffron” in some ingredient lists is this marigold, not true saffron.
• The herbs. Katzer’s version adds savory, dill weed and basil, and optionally parsley, mint and coriander leaf. Kemper’s adds marjoram, hyssop, dill and basil.⁴¹ If your blend tastes thin, add a teaspoon of any of these dried herbs per batch.

If khmeli suneli is a general herb seasoning

Italian seasoning, plus coriander and fenugreek

Italian seasoning shares some of khmeli suneli’s herbs but misses the backbone. McCormick’s label lists marjoram, basil, rosemary, thyme, oregano, savory and sage,⁶ so it has basil, marjoram and savory in common with the Georgian versions above. There’s no coriander, fenugreek or marigold. It also brings rosemary, thyme, oregano and sage, none of which show up in the three khmeli suneli versions above.

Ratio (Method): For each tablespoon of khmeli suneli, mix 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning with 1 teaspoon ground coriander and a small pinch of ground fenugreek. The coriander and fenugreek put back two of the three backbone ingredients. The rosemary will make it taste more resinous.

If khmeli suneli is warmth and color in a stew

Curry powder

The USDA’s specification lists turmeric, coriander, fenugreek, cinnamon, cumin, black pepper, ginger and cardamom as minimum ingredients for curry powder.⁷ So it shares coriander and (ordinary) fenugreek with khmeli suneli, and swaps turmeric’s yellow for marigold’s. It has none of the dried herbs, though, and the cumin, ginger, cinnamon and cardamom push a dish toward Indian flavors.

Ratio (Method): Start with 1 teaspoon per tablespoon of khmeli suneli, taste, and go up to 2 teaspoons if the dish needs it. A pinch of dried savory or dill helps bring back the herb side.

Blends it is compared with, but that don’t substitute well

Kemper compares khmeli suneli with garam masala and ras el hanout.¹ He’s comparing the role each blend plays, not the ingredients. The Oxford Companion to Food gives ras el hanout’s standard ingredients as cumin, coriander, turmeric, ginger, cardamom and nutmeg, often with cinnamon, cayenne and rosebud.⁸ Coriander is the only one it shares with khmeli suneli’s core. If it’s all you have, use half the amount and add a pinch of dried herbs.

What isn’t known

• We found no aroma analysis of blue fenugreek or culinary marigold, so no source says how close ordinary fenugreek and safflower come.
• Commercial khmeli suneli varies by merchant,¹ so no substitute can match “the” blend.

Related

• Khmeli suneli
• Fenugreek, coriander, coriander substitutes, safflower, safflower vs. saffron
• Summer savory, dill, basil, marjoram
• Italian seasoning, curry powder, ras el hanout, garam masala