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

Khmeli suneli is Georgia’s everyday blend of ground dried herbs and spices. Benjamin Kemper, writing in Saveur, quotes a spice distributor calling dried marigold, blue fenugreek and coriander “the backbone of khmeli suneli,” and notes that the taste varies with each merchant’s formula.¹ Gernot Katzer adds savory, dill, basil, a little black pepper and a pinch of marigold sold as “Imeretian saffron.”²³ Because there is no fixed recipe, the best substitute is usually a quick version of the blend itself, built from as much of that backbone as you can find.

Quick answer

How the ratios on this page are labeled

Every ratio carries one of four labels.

• Computed: based on a measurable physical relationship, with the source named.
• Attributed: a named source publishes this ratio. We quote it as theirs.
• Disputed: named sources give different answers to the same swap. We show each one and do not average them.
• Method: we found no published ratio. We give a direction and a cautious starting point, and say so.

We found no published ratio for any ready-made blend in place of khmeli suneli. The only published figures are recipes for khmeli suneli itself.

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.²¹ Saveur names pkhali, a spinach-and-walnut pâté, and badrijani nigzvit, eggplant rolls filled with walnut paste.⁴¹ Here the blend is the flavor, so it is 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.⁴ Use the result one for one in place of store-bought khmeli suneli. Saveur says to keep it in a tightly closed jar in a cool, dry place and use it within 3 months.⁴

If you can’t get blue fenugreek or marigold

• Blue fenugreek. This is Trigonella caerulea, a relative of the fenugreek used in Indian cooking; Katzer notes that the two are sometimes confused, especially in Georgian recipes.⁵ In Georgia its dried seed is sold on its own as utskho suneli.² No aroma analysis of blue fenugreek was found, so ordinary fenugreek is a stand-in of unknown closeness. PROSEA credits ordinary fenugreek’s curry-like aroma to a compound called sotolon.⁶ Method: 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, and that safflower can stand in for it, though it has even less flavor.³ Kemper says marigold lends the blend color and earthiness.¹ Method: swap in ground safflower one for one by volume, or leave the marigold out and rely on the paprika for color. The “saffron” in some ingredient lists is this marigold, not true saffron.³
• 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.²¹ Method: 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 overlaps with khmeli suneli on its herbs but misses the backbone. McCormick’s label lists marjoram, basil, rosemary, thyme, oregano, savory and sage,⁷ so it shares basil, marjoram and savory with the Georgian versions above. It contains no coriander, fenugreek or marigold. It also brings rosemary, thyme, oregano and sage, none of which appear in the three khmeli suneli versions above; the USDA’s purchasing specification for Italian seasoning lists rosemary, thyme, sage, oregano and basil.⁸²¹⁴ Tasting Table says the commercial blend is “more than likely an American invention.”⁹

Ratio (Method): No published ratio was found. 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. Expect a more resinous result because of the rosemary.

If khmeli suneli is warmth and color in a stew

Curry powder

Curry powder is a blend that Britannica says British settlers in India adapted from Indian spice mixtures; the word “curry” comes from the Tamil kari, “sauce.”¹⁰ The USDA’s specification lists turmeric, coriander, fenugreek, cinnamon, cumin, black pepper, ginger and cardamom as minimum ingredients.⁸ That gives it coriander and (ordinary) fenugreek in common with khmeli suneli, and turmeric’s yellow in place of marigold’s. It has none of the dried herbs, and its cumin, ginger, cinnamon and cardamom push a dish toward Indian flavors.

Ratio (Method): No published ratio was found. 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 That comparison is about the role the blend plays, not its 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.¹¹ Coriander is the only ingredient it shares with the core of khmeli suneli. Method: if it’s all you have, use half the amount and add a pinch of dried herbs.

What isn’t known

• No published ratio for any ready-made blend in place of khmeli suneli was found. Every swap above except the homemade recipe is a Method starting point.
• No aroma analysis of blue fenugreek or culinary marigold was found, so how close ordinary fenugreek and safflower come is not known.
• 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