What to use instead of sweet paprika
It depends entirely on what it's doing in the dish. Here's the job, what else does it, and what to skip.
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Red colour and mild pepper sweetness in a stew or sauce
The pigment dissolves into the fat and dyes the whole pot red, and the dried pepper flesh adds a sweet fruitiness with almost no heat behind it.
Kashmiri chilli powderRan out
1:1
Brighter scarlet than Hungarian paprika and a low background heat you can feel by the third spoonful. Slightly sharper, less sweet.
Ancho chile powderRan out
1:1
Darker brick red with raisin and coffee behind it. A goulash made with it looks browner and tastes closer to a mole.
Smoked paprikaRan out
1/3 the amount, the rest made up with sweet paprika or tomato paste
Campfire smoke arrives first and stays. Fine in a bean pot or a rub, wrong in obatzda or anything raw.
Tomato paste plus a pinch of cayenneRan out
1 tbsp tomato paste + 1/8 tsp cayenne per 1 tbsp paprika
Gets the red and the sweetness, adds acidity and thickens the sauce. Cook it in the fat for two minutes or it tastes tinny.
What doesn't work: Cayenne or American chilli powder measured spoon for spoon. Cayenne is pure heat with no sweet pepper flesh behind it, so a tablespoon of paprika replaced by a tablespoon of cayenne is inedible. Chilli powder blends carry cumin, oregano and garlic that turn a Hungarian stew into a taco.
Colour and toast on fried chicken, wedges or a dry rub
The powder dyes the flour red and toasts as the crust sets, so the coating reads as cooked rather than pale, and it seasons every bite of surface.
Kashmiri chilli powderRan out
1:1
Redder crust with a mild burn. Behaves the same in the flour and holds its colour at frying heat.
Smoked paprikaRan out
1:1
Smoke reads well on chicken and potatoes. The crust goes a shade darker because smoked paprika scorches sooner in 180C oil.
Ancho chile powderRan out
1:1
Browner crust with a sweeter, fruitier taste. It has more sugar in it, so watch the last minute of frying for bitterness.
What doesn't work: Turmeric for the colour. It goes yellow-orange rather than red and brings a raw medicinal bitterness that a bare fried crust has nothing to hide behind.
Paprika fades. If the jar has gone brown and smells of dust, no ratio fixes it and the dish will come out grey.