Homemade Biryani Masala Powder is an aromatic spice blend of a number of whole spices that can be used to make your layered biryanis or even one-pot pulaos or fried rice dishes and curries taste exciting.
Whether you’re making a paneer biryani, a vegetable biryani, or a meat-based biryani, you need a particular set of spices to make it taste as good as it can be. And instead of using spice powders for each one (the list can get pretty long!), use a biryani masala instead. It saves you a lot of time and adds a lot of flavor to the final dish.
Now, it is quite easy to buy biryani masala from the store or online. In the US, it costs ~ $3-5 and in India, it is ~ INR 90-100. And so, you might wonder why you’d make this at home rather than saving time, effort, and money and just buying it. And I’m here to tell ya – nothing wrong with it. You do you!
However, if you’re looking to avoid preservatives and artificial flavors that may be there in a store-bought masala, then this easy homemade biryani masala powder is for you! Whether you choose the convenience of a store-bought spice blend or you make it from scratch, just do me a favor and get your pantry stocked up with this delicious blend of spices.
What do you need to make Homemade Biryani Masala Powder?
While there can be different proportions and ingredients used to make the masala, here are some ingredients you should absolutely not miss while making your biryani masala at home –
- Coriander Seeds or Dhania
- Black Cardamom or Badi Elaichi
- Cinnamon Stick or Dalchini
- Fennel Seeds or Saunf
- Black Peppercorn
- Cumin Seeds (jeera) and Black Cumin Seeds (shah jeera)
- Star Anise or Chakr Phool
- And then other ingredients can include bay leaves, cloves, mace, nutmeg, stone flower or dagad phool, and so on.
Although you don’t really need it (it’s just dry roasting and grinding after all), here’s a quick video on how to make Biryani Masala (that I found on YT) –
Homemade Biryani Masala Powder
Ingredients
- 5-10 pieces dry Kashmiri Red Chilies
- 3 Tbsp Coriander Seeds (dhania)
- 5 pieces Black Cardamom (badi elaichi)
- 1 Tbsp Black Peppercorn (kali mirch)
- 1 Tbsp Whole Cloves (laung)
- 3 inch Cinnamon Stick, broken down into rough pieces (about 1/4 cup)
- 2 tsp Fennel Seeds (saunf)
- 1 Tbsp Cumin Seeds (jeera)
- 2 tsp Black Cumin Seeds (shah jeera), optional
- 2 pieces Star Anise (Chakr phool)
- 1 Tbsp Mace (Javantri), broken into pieces
- 2 Tbsp Green Cardamom (choti elaichi)
- 1/2 Tbsp Nutmeg Powder
- 4-5 pieces Bay Leaves (tej patta)
- 1 tsp Turmeric Powder (optional)
Instructions
- Dry Roast all ingredients (except Turmeric powder and Nutmeg Powder) in a non stick pan until they turn aromatic and let them cool completely.
- Add all the roasted spices along with the turmeirc powder and grated nutmeg in a spice grinder. Grind to smooth powder.
- Store this homemade biryani masala in an airtight container and use as needed. You can also refrigeraye this for longer shelf-life.
Notes
- The ingredients and quantity mentioned are my way of making the biryani masala. You can omit some of them, or change proportions slightly to suit your palate.
- Do not omit – Coriander seeds, cinnamon, fennel, pepper, and cumin seeds, for they are the dominant spices in the mix.
Here are some other spice-blends you can make at home:
