Why food tastes the way it does.

Add more of the unsalted main ingredients (vegetables, pulses, meat, coconut milk, tomatoes) to increase the volume. established

Salt is spread through more food, so its concentration drops. This is the only reliable fix.

Won’t help when: When you cannot add more without changing the dish's character or you have no more of the ingredients.

Dilute with unsalted stock, water or milk, then rebalance spices. established

Reduces the salt concentration directly.

Won’t help when: If the dish then needs reducing again: evaporation concentrates the salt back up. Also not for dishes that must be thick, such as dry stir-fries.

Serve with unsalted starch: plain rice, unsalted bread, boiled potatoes. established

Each mouthful contains less salt overall.

Won’t help when: When the dish is meant to be eaten alone, such as soup.

Add fat or creaminess (cream, yoghurt, coconut milk, unsalted butter) or a little sweetness. established

Fat and sweetness can soften how salty food tastes; they change perception only, not the amount of salt.

Won’t help when: When the dish should stay light or lean; it does nothing for anyone limiting salt for health.

Add a squeeze of acid (lemon, vinegar) to balance. experimental

Acid can make a dish taste more balanced, but at some levels it actually enhances perceived saltiness; results vary.

Won’t help when: In dishes that are already sour; and taste carefully, because it can make saltiness more noticeable.

Simmer a raw potato in the dish to 'absorb the salt'. experimental

Not established. A potato absorbs some of the salty liquid along with water, but it does not selectively remove salt; tests show little or no change in salt concentration. Adding potato as extra unsalted volume is what helps, if it stays in the dish.

Won’t help when: Do not rely on it; use more unsalted ingredients or dilution instead.

Stir in dairy: yoghurt, cream, milk, paneer or ghee. established

Capsaicin is fat-soluble; fat dissolves it and the milk protein casein is thought to help carry it away, reducing the burn.

Won’t help when: Vegan or dairy-free dishes (use coconut milk or cashew cream instead). Add yoghurt off the heat or tempered, or it may split in a boiling, acidic sauce.

Add more volume of the base (onion-tomato masala, vegetables, pulses, stock). established

Dilutes the capsaicin.

Won’t help when: When you have no more base or the dish is already well-portioned.

Add a little sweetness (sugar, jaggery, honey) and acid (lemon, tamarind). established

Sweet and sour can distract from and partly mask heat.

Won’t help when: Dishes that should not taste sweet; this softens rather than removes heat.

Serve with cooling sides: raita, plain rice, bread, cucumber. established

Fat, starch and coolness in each mouthful ease the burn.

Won’t help when: If the heat is so high that nobody can eat the dish at all.

Remove whole chillies and avoid adding more ground chilli at the end. established

Whole chillies keep releasing capsaicin while they sit in the sauce.

Won’t help when: When the heat comes from ground chilli already dissolved in the sauce.

Add sweetness: a pinch of sugar or jaggery, or sweet vegetables such as carrots or caramelised onion. established

Sweetness balances the perception of sourness.

Won’t help when: When the dish should not taste sweet.

Add fat or creaminess (cream, coconut milk, butter, cashew paste). established

Coats the palate and rounds off sharp acidity.

Won’t help when: Light or lean dishes.

Dilute with more unsour base or stock. established

Reduces the acid concentration.

Won’t help when: When this makes the dish watery or dilutes other flavours too much.

Add a very small pinch of baking soda (bicarbonate), stir and taste. established

An alkali neutralises some acid chemically; it foams as it reacts.

Won’t help when: Never in pickles or preserves where acidity keeps food safe. Too much tastes soapy and can make vegetables mushy.

Cook raw tomato or tamarind longer. established

Raw tomato and tamarind taste harsh; cooking softens their sharpness and develops sweetness, though acid levels change little.

Won’t help when: When the acid comes from lemon or vinegar added at the end.

Add acid: lemon, lime, vinegar, tamarind or yoghurt. established

Sourness balances sweetness.

Won’t help when: Desserts where tang is out of place (try a pinch of salt instead).

Add a pinch of salt. established

Salt makes sweetness taste more rounded and balanced.

Won’t help when: Already salty dishes.

Add heat or bitterness: chilli, black pepper, ginger, mustard, dark greens, coffee or cocoa in desserts. established

Contrasting tastes cut through sweetness.

Won’t help when: Dishes for children or people sensitive to heat.

Add more unsweetened base or dilute. established

Reduces sugar concentration.

Won’t help when: When this changes texture, as in baking or jam (sugar there is structural).

Add a little salt. established

Salt suppresses bitterness perception, one of the best-documented taste interactions.

Won’t help when: When the dish is already well salted.

Add sweetness (sugar, jaggery, honey, caramelised onion). established

Sweetness masks bitterness.

Won’t help when: Savoury dishes where sweetness is unwelcome.

Add fat or creaminess. established

Coats the palate and softens bitter notes.

Won’t help when: Light dishes.

Add acid (lemon, tamarind). established

Brightness distracts from bitterness.

Won’t help when: Already sour dishes.

If the bitterness comes from burnt spices, garlic or onions, start the tadka or masala again. established

Burnt flavours cannot be masked well; they dominate the dish.

Won’t help when: When only mildly toasted; then use the fixes above.

Tilt the pan and spoon or ladle off the surface oil. established

Oil floats on watery sauces and can be removed directly.

Won’t help when: Dishes like bhunao where the oil separating is a sign of doneness; some visible oil is normal and carries flavour.

Chill the dish and lift off the set fat. established

Fat solidifies when cold and can be removed in one piece.

Won’t help when: When serving immediately.

Lay a sheet of paper towel briefly on the surface. established

Paper absorbs floating oil.

Won’t help when: Thick sauces where paper sticks.

Add more volume (base, vegetables, pulses, liquid) or starch. established

The same fat is spread over more food.

Won’t help when: When the dish is already the right quantity.

Skim with a ladle containing ice cubes over the surface. experimental

Fat congeals on the cold metal and can be wiped off.

Won’t help when: Thin soups where the ice melts in; it is fiddly and works only with fats that set.

Add salt, a pinch at a time, and taste. established

Salt is the most common missing element; it enhances flavour and suppresses bitterness.

Won’t help when: For people on salt-restricted diets; use acid and aromatics instead.

Add acid (lemon, lime, vinegar, amchur, tamarind). established

Acidity brightens and lifts flavours.

Won’t help when: Already sour dishes.

Add umami: tomato paste, soy sauce, fish sauce, mushrooms, Parmesan, stock. established

Glutamates add savoury depth.

Won’t help when: When it clashes with the cuisine or diet (fish sauce in a vegetarian dish).

Pour over a fresh tadka of hot ghee or oil with cumin, mustard seeds, garlic or chilli. established

Fat carries fat-soluble aroma compounds released from the spices.

Won’t help when: Very light or fat-restricted dishes.

Finish with fresh herbs, garam masala or citrus zest. established

Volatile aromas added at the end are still strong when served.

Won’t help when: When the dish is meant to be plain.

Simmer uncovered to reduce. established

Evaporation removes water and concentrates flavour.

Won’t help when: When the dish is already well salted (salt concentrates) or delicate proteins would overcook; remove them first and return them later.

Stir in a starch slurry (cornflour or arrowroot mixed with cold water) and simmer briefly. established

Starch granules swell and thicken the liquid (gelatinisation).

Won’t help when: Dishes to be frozen (cornflour can turn spongy) or long acidic simmering, which weakens starch thickening.

Blend part of the solids (lentils, vegetables, potato) and return them. established

Puréed solids thicken without added ingredients.

Won’t help when: When you want distinct pieces.

Add ground nuts, seeds or a nut paste (cashew, almond, poppy, melon seed) or roasted gram flour. established

Common Indian thickeners that add body and richness.

Won’t help when: Nut allergies; dishes that should be light.

Whisk in a roux or beurre manié (butter kneaded with flour). established

Flour starch thickens; butter carries it in smoothly.

Won’t help when: Gluten-free dishes.

Stir in hot stock, water or milk a little at a time. established

Thins without cooling the dish.

Won’t help when: Starch-thickened sauces still on the heat: they may thin out on standing or keep thickening as they cool, so check at serving temperature first.

Re-season after thinning. established

Adding liquid dilutes salt and spice.

Won’t help when: If you thinned with seasoned stock, taste before adding more salt.

Add coconut milk, cream or yoghurt (tempered) for richer curries. established

Thins while adding body.

Won’t help when: Light dishes; dairy-free diets.

For dals and pulses, add boiling water and whisk. established

Pulses absorb water as they stand and thicken.

Won’t help when: Dals meant to be thick, such as dry dal fry.

Make a fresh tadka and pour it over at the end. established

Spices bloomed in hot fat release volatile aroma compounds that are strongest straight away.

Won’t help when: Fat-restricted diets.

Add garam masala, crushed kasuri methi or freshly ground spices in the last minute or two. established

Long cooking drives off volatile aromas; adding late keeps them.

Won’t help when: Raw ground spices can taste dusty if not cooked at all; heat them briefly.

Finish with fresh herbs (coriander, mint, curry leaves) or citrus zest. established

Fresh aromatics give the strongest top notes.

Won’t help when: Dishes that should taste deep rather than fresh.

Toast and grind whole spices yourself. established

Ground spices lose aroma faster than whole.

Won’t help when: When time is short; then add a little more pre-ground spice.

Smoke the dish with dhungar (hot charcoal with ghee in a covered pot). established

Adds smoky aroma.

Won’t help when: Dishes where smoke does not belong; never in a closed room without ventilation.