How to Fix Dishes with Too Much Turmeric

Turmeric is not the world’s most pungent spice and is more of a food colouring.

However, there may be instances where you accidentally add too much turmeric while cooking a meal.

If you do, it might make your dish taste slightly bitter.

Too much turmeric may also be harmful to your health.

It has health benefits, including boosting immunity, metabolism and healing body pain.

But adding this spice in excess can increase body temperature, indigestion and even cause diarrhoea in some cases.

According to Consultant Nutritionist Dr Rupali Dutta:

“Although consuming turmeric or haldi in its natural form promotes health but excess of it can cause an upset stomach, nausea and dizziness.

“Especially, if you take turmeric capsules or supplements in high amounts, it can prove to be detrimental to your health.

“I would recommend taking turmeric in its natural form in moderate quantities to attain its health benefits.”

Therefore, it is best to add a minimal amount but if you add too much by mistake, here are some hacks to fix your dish.

Dilute with Coconut Milk

Turmeric is typically used in South Asian dishes and so is coconut milk.

If too much turmeric is added, coconut milk may be a reasonable addition whether the recipe calls for it or not.

In addition to the dilution of the spice, coconut milk also has the effect of muting certain flavours including the bitterness that might result from the overuse of turmeric.

Curd, Salt & Chillies

A simple mixture of curd, salt, red chilli powder and water is another solution if too much turmeric is added.

Simply whisk the ingredients together and add them to the dish.

If you are making sabzi, remove the fried vegetables then add the mixture.

Return the vegetables to the pan and stir well.

Add Tangy Ingredients

Another simple way to balance the flavour of excess turmeric is by adding tangy ingredients as it will contrast the bitter taste.

Some options include dry mango powder, tamarind powder or tamarind paste. Another ingredient is tomato sauce.

The increased acidity may help to neutralise or distract from the bitterness that can come from too much turmeric.

Sugar

A commonly suggested solution when trying to counteract bitterness is to add a sweetener.

While this may not work for every dish with turmeric, it can work with some.

A simple thing to do is to mix sugar with water or fresh cream. Add this to the dish.

But you will have to be careful when sweetening any dish that would typically not have a sweet component.

Sweeteners should be added in very small amounts since you do not want them to be noticed. You want just enough to offset the turmeric’s bitterness.

Dilute with More of the Recipe’s Ingredients

You can quickly fix excess turmeric by adding more of the other ingredients, everything apart from the turmeric.

You can add more chicken stock, extra oil, extra water, and everything that makes up the base of your recipe.

If the recipe required you to use half a teaspoon of turmeric, and you used one teaspoon by accident, you can quickly fix it by doubling up all the other ingredients.

This will help to bring the dish back in line with your recipe’s flavour balance, ultimately saving your dish.

The ingredients needed to fix your dish can easily be found, usually in your kitchen cupboard.

But these simple hacks will help save your dish if you’ve added too much turmeric.