Biryani masala powder recipe

Biryani masala powder or chicken masala powder, a spice mix that is used to prepare fragrant biryani rice like chicken biryani or vegetable biryani. It can also be used to make chicken masala curry

Ingredients (240 ml cup used)

1 bay leaf

1 ½ tsp saunf / fennel seeds / sompu/ sombhu

2 star anise

6 Green cardamom

2 Black cardamom

1 tsp. Pepper corn

5 two inch cinnamon sticks

1 tbsp cloves

4 tbsps Coriander seeds

2 tbsps Shahi jeera

1 Mace flower or strands from 1 flower

½ tsp grated Nutmeg

3 medium sized stone flowers/ kalpaasi / dagad phool

Instructions

Clean up the spices one after the other to pick and discard stones and debris

On a low flame, dry roast the spices each separately and cool them or Sun dry for a day or two till they turn crisp

Blend them or mill them to a fine powder. Sieve and store in an airtight glass jar

Use as needed while making vegetable biryani or chicken biryani. 1 tsp per cup of rice makes a good aromatic biryani. To make chicken masala curry, use as needed based on the recipe.

Notes

Left over coarse powder after sieving can be used for curries or for making masala tea. Do not use coarse masala for making biryani as it totally spoils your dish.

Roasting and sun drying are done to bring out the aroma of the spices and to prevent the masala powder from getting worms or going rancid. If you are going to refrigerate the powder, you can skip the roasting part. i just take my spices right from the freezer , measure and make the powder. The powder warms up on its own by the time it is fine powdered.

Saunf or fennel seeds can be increased to 1 to 1.5 tbsps. if you like the flavor.

#biryani #spicemix