Biryani Masala Powder Recipe

Biryani Masala is an aromatic spice blend used in the preparation of Biryani, a layered rice & meat/veggie dish. This recipe helps you make Biryani Masala that is super flavorful and is quick to make. Nothing beats the aroma of fresh ground spices & you won’t get the same quality and flavor from the store bought Biryani Masala.

About Biryani Masala

This biryani masala can be used to make biryanis of all kinds – meat, egg and vegetarian. Apart from that you can use it in your korma dishes, meat pilafs and curries. Using even a small amount of this ground spice blend is going to elevate the flavors of your dish.

You may love the convenience of store bought biryani masala but a lot of them do have plenty of additives and artificial flavorings. Some of them even include unnecessary ingredients like fried onions which actually makes the spice blend smell rancid etc.

Artificial kewra flavoring, biryani essence, msg and even citric acid are some of the commonly found additives in a store bought biryani masala.

Homemade biryani masala lets you adjust the flavors to your taste and you know what goes into it. You also have the option to choose organic spices.

I use this Biryani Masala to make Lamb curry and all my biryanis like
Chicken Biryani
Hyderabadi Biryani
Dum Biryani
Vegetable Biryani

Biryani Masala vs Garam Masala

If you are wondering how this biryani masala is different from the Garam masala, biryani masala is much stronger in flavor than garam masala.

The combination of spices used to make both these spice blends is different. Biryani masala has some key ingredients like shahi jeera (caraway seeds) and dagad phool (stone flower, kalpasi) which are not used to make garam masala.

Here is a picture of the caraway seeds. They look similar to cumin but these are thinner, darker and longer than the cumin seeds.

Also the quantity of coriander seeds is higher in garam masala to tone down the pungent flavors.

A lot of people do not use spices like nutmeg, mace, fennel seeds and star anise in garam masala but they do exist in a Biriyani masala powder.

My Recipe

If you intend to try my recipe, I highly suggest you to read the Ingredients & Substitutes section so you know what can be substituted and is it worth.

My recipe does not use dried red chilies & cumin seeds. Usually store bought spice blends have dried red chilies in higher quantities as a cheap filler since other aromatic spices are expensive than the dried chilies.

You can leave out the dagad phool if it is not available. It is a key ingredient in the Hyderabadi biryani and South Indian meat masala recipes.

Here is a picture of the spice. It is not easily available in Singapore for the past 2 years. So I have not used it in the stepwise pictures. It is also known as kalpasi & pathar phool in Indian languages.

This homemade biryani masala keeps good for a year in the freezer and for 6 months in the refrigerator. You can also store it at room temperature for 2 months. Store it in an air tight freezer safe jar if freezing. Any regular glass container is best for other storage methods.

More similar recipes you may like
Curry Powder
Chai Spice Powder
Sambar Powder
Idli Podi
Pav Bhaji Masala
Rasam Powder
Cumin Powder

Photo Guide

How to make Biryani Masala (Stepwise Photos)

Preparation

1. Measure and clean all the following spices. Discard any stones & chaffs from them.

• 1 to 3 bay leaf
• 2 to 3 star anise (4 grams biryani flower, chakri phool)
• 15 Green cardamom (3 grams, elaichi)
• 2 to 3 Black cardamom (3 grams masala elaichi, badi elaichi)
• 5 to 6 Ceylon cinnamon pieces (2 inch each, 5 grams dalchini)
• 1 tablespoon cloves (6 to 7 grams lavang)
• 1½ tablespoon fennel seeds (12 grams saunf, can reduce to 1 ½ tsp if you don’t like the flavor)
• 1 teaspoon Pepper corn (3 grams kali mirch)
• ¼ cup Coriander seeds (18 grams sabut daniya)
• 2 tablespoons shahi jeera (16 grams caraway seeds)
• 1 Mace (2 grams javitri, membrane covering 1 nutmeg, refer notes)
• ½ teaspoon Nutmeg (grated or crushed, 1½ to 2 grams jaiphal)
• 3 stone flowers (or kalpaasi or dagad phool – medium sized, optional)

2. Here is a close up shot of the cinnamon. You will break them to 2 inch pieces and clean with a kitchen tissue to ensure there is no dust or other pesky things. Make sure you use Ceylon cinnamon also known as True cinnamon. Do not use cassia as the flavor would be much different.

Roast the Spices

We will dry roast some of the spices individually as the roasting time is different for each. Some larger spices are roasted together.

3. On a medium heat, dry roast coriander seeds until crunchy, light brown but not burnt. Keep stirring as you want to roast them evenly. Transfer to a large tray placed over a cooking rack. This ensures your spices or the tray won’t sweat while they cool.

4. Break the nutmeg to 2 portions with a nutcracker or a mortar pestle. Add half (1.5 to 2 grams) of it to the pan along with cinnamon, mace, star anise, black cardamoms and bay leaf. Dry roast on a medium heat until the spices begin to smell aromatic. This takes me about 3 mins. Transfer to the tray.

5. Add cloves, black pepper and green cardamoms. Dry roast until they begin to smell good, for 2 to 3 mins. Transfer them to the tray.

6. Dry roast the fennel seeds until you begin to get a floral smell for 3 mins. Transfer to a tray.

7. Dry roast caraway seeds on a low to medium heat until fragrant. Be careful with this spice as they can burn faster. Transfer to the tray.

8. If you are using other spices like dried red chilies or dagad phool, dry roast them until they begin to smell pungent. Cool all the roasted spices completely.

Make Biryani Masala

9. Add them to a grinder jar.

10. Grind to a fine powder (as fine as possible). I do it thrice in intervals, letting the grinder rest for a few minutes in between. Do not let your grinder become hot.

11. I prefer to sieve the biryani masala and it is up to you. Add it to a sieve or a fine strainer. I don’t use the floor sieve as we don’t need it super fine. A fine strainer works well for me.

12. You will get some coarse particles (I get about 12 grams) which you may grind again. Sometimes I just store separately and add half a teaspoon to my chai while boiling. It is mostly the fennel coriander and star anise grits which are actually good to discard.

13. You will notice the difference after sieving. It is finer.

Store this in an air tight glass jar.

Use as needed in your biryani and meat dishes.

Ingredients & Substitutes

Bay Leaf: I don’t use a lot of bay leaf in my recipe and prefer to add a leaf to the biryani and rice while cooking. It is just a filler. So you are making it for commercial purpose, you may add up to 12 to 15 leaves.

Red Chilies: I do not use red chilies and prefer to use only while cooking the dish. It is again a filler, if you want it for commercial purpose use up to 12 to 18 dried red chilies.

Fennel seeds add a mild floral aroma to your dish without overpowering. It is highly recommended to balance out the pungent flavors of black cardamoms, cloves, black pepper and mace. It also helps in digestion.

Cinnamon: Use only Ceylon cinnamon and not cassia. You can easily identify and differentiate between the 2. Ceylon cinnamon is thinner and cassia is thicker. Apart from that you feel the flavor of Ceylon cinnamon is milder as opposed to the stronger aroma of cassia. It is okay to use whole cassia for flavoring but when you grind, it is better to use Ceylon Cinnamon.

Shahi Jeera imparts a smoky, pungent and earthy flavor that is unique to itself. There is no substitute and I would suggest not to make biryani masala without that. Though you can use cumin as a substitute, your biryani masala will be similar to the garam masala and you don’t need to make a batch of this. Instead use garam masala.

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