Cooking is an art and not everyone can nail it perfectly! Well, it is easier said than done, but you need to cook food for survival, good or bad depends on your skills as ordering everytime can dig a hole in your pocket as well as affect your health.
No matter how good or bad you cook, a good dish depends on the balance of flavours, even the slightest imbalance of ingredients can ruin the essence of a dish and that’s when quick fixes and hacks come into the picture!
What happens, when you are cooking a lavish meal for lunch or dinner and somehow the dish turns out to be sweet rather than spicy and savoury, and that's when you realise that it was no less than a blunder.
Well, not every blunder in life has a fix to it, but this one has. So, without further ado let’s look into some of the easy hacks to save a dish that has turned too sweet while cooking.
Tips to keep in mind while cooking
While cooking we often end up adding a few ingredients by mistake that can ruin the taste of the dish. In fact, this happens to be one of the most common mistakes that happen while cooking especially while making curries, soups, stews. It is not always sugar that can make a savoury dish sweet, but there are other ingredients as well as that can make your dish taste sweet. Unfortunately, it isn’t possible to remove the sugary taste completely but these quick hacks will certainly help you balance out the taste.
The balancing act
Yes, sounds like a trick, but it is no less than an art to fix a spoiled dish. Adding too much salt or spice won’t help you balance out the sweetness of a dish rather adding some seasonings and exotic powders can actually help you fix the taste of the dish. In fact, adding a melange of herbs can also save a dish.
Add a hint of tanginess
Adding lime juice can to your dish can balance out the sweetness. In case, you don’t want too much of tanginess in the dish you can also add vinegar white wine vinegar, red wine vinegar, balsamic vinegar.
Bitter can cut the sugary flavour
If you want to balance your dish adding a bit of bitterness can actually amp up the taste and balance out the sweetness of the dish. In fact, there are several ingredients which you can add to your dish such as kale, arugula, cocoa etc.
Spicy
This works best while cooking curries and soups, you can add spices to balance out the sweetness of the dish. Moreover, spice can not only balance out but also amp up the taste of the delicacy. However, begin with adding a small quantity and then add some more. You can add chilli powder, peppers, chili flakes, cayenne pepper. Well, if you want you can also add condiments.
FAQs
Adding lime juice can to your dish can balance out the sweetness. In case, you don't want too much of tanginess in the dish you can also add vinegar white wine vinegar, red wine vinegar, balsamic vinegar.
How to fix a dish that is too sweet? ›
The Fix: Tone down an overly sweet dish by adding a sour, salty, or bitter ingredient to it. Sour fruit (such as blackberries or cherries), cooling herbs such as mint, and chopped nuts work well in sweets such as cakes, cookies, and pies.
How to reduce sweetness in sweet dishes? ›
If your dish is a little too sweet, try rounding out the sweetness by adding flavors or ingredients that are sour, bitter, or spicy. It may be obvious not to add more sweet ingredients, but you should also stay away from salty ones since they actually bring out the sweetness in food.
Which of the following you should do if your dish is over sweetened? ›
If your dish is too sweet, you can add acidity (lemon juice or vinegar) or a pinch of salt. These will help round out those sweet flavors.
How to reduce the sweetness of a curry? ›
Acidic Agent
In your gravies, squeeze some lemon juice or add a dash of vinegar. This can help cut the sweetness and balance the overall flavour of the dish.
What cancels out sugar in a dish? ›
If your food is too sweet...
Add an acid or seasonings such as lemon juice, lime juice, or vinegar; chopped fresh herbs, citrus zest, or a dash of cayenne for savory dishes, liqueur or instant espresso for sweet dishes.
How do you remove sugar from a dish? ›
Adding lime juice can to your dish can balance out the sweetness. In case, you don't want too much of tanginess in the dish you can also add vinegar white wine vinegar, red wine vinegar, balsamic vinegar.
How to remove excess sugar from kheer? ›
Too sweet
If you are preparing an Indian dessert such as kheer, add some extra milk. In case of extra sweet laddoo or barfi, mix some khoya/mawa in the mixture and then make the mithai.
How to decrease sweetness in shahi paneer? ›
Here're A Few Tips To Reduce Sweetness From Curries:
- Add Lime Juice. Adding a sour tasting ingredient such as lime juice helps add another layer of flavour to the dish. ...
- Increase The Quantity. You can dilute the sweetness of your curry by increasing the ratio of other ingredients. ...
- Add Yogurt. ...
- Make It Spicy.
Diluting a sweet tomato sauce will dull its sweetness, so you can add water or chicken or vegetable broth, a little at a time until the sauce tastes better. Or, if you like spicy food, you can try spicing the tomato sauce with some crushed chili flakes, which should help balance out its sweetness.
Add Lime Juice
Adding some lime juice can also come in handy when you have added too much sugar to a dish. The tanginess of the limes helps to balance out the sweetness. And your dish might even come back to life.
What is the best way to counteract too much sugar? ›
Hydrate. Flush out all that sweet stuff from your system by hydrating ASAP with water or other low-sugar fluids, and foods high in water content. "Drink plenty of water and go for foods like watermelon, cucumbers, strawberries and yogurt," Seaver says.
What helps sweeten food? ›
Cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, allspice, mace, cardamom and star anise are commonly associated with sweetness. These spices are often used in baked goods and pair especially well with fruit dishes. Vanilla extract can also make food seem sweeter, perhaps due to its aroma.
Why does my Indian curry taste sweet? ›
So I will put oil and then mix in my spices, In curry I think the strongest taste of "sweet" comes from star anise punched up with ginger. So make sure you get that in good quality. Onions - if you use ones, use white sweet/sugar ones. Yellow or red can be more oniony than sweet.
How to reduce sweetness in sweets? ›
Add vinegar.
Start with just a splash or teaspoon and taste, so you can ensure that the recipe is balanced. You can always add more if necessary. Virtually any vinegar can help correct food that's too sweet, but white, red wine, white wine, and apple cider usually work the best.
How do you counteract sweetness in a casserole? ›
Add vinegar.
Start with just a splash or teaspoon and taste, so you can ensure that the recipe is balanced. You can always add more if necessary. Virtually any vinegar can help correct food that's too sweet, but white, red wine, white wine, and apple cider usually work the best.
How do you cut sweetness in baked goods? ›
There are a few things you can try to reduce the sweetness in a cake after baking: Brush the cake with a tart or acidic syrup: You can make a syrup using ingredients like lemon juice, orange juice, or even vinegar, and brush it on top of the cake to add some tartness and balance out the sweetness.
How to offset too much sugar? ›
Hydrate. Flush out all that sweet stuff from your system by hydrating ASAP with water or other low-sugar fluids, and foods high in water content. "Drink plenty of water and go for foods like watermelon, cucumbers, strawberries and yogurt," Seaver says.
