If there’s one dish that screams “Pakistani,” it’s biryani—especially when you make it with a quick 5-minute homemade Biryani Masala. There’s something super satisfying about mixing up your own spice blend. And trust me, once you try making it yourself, you won’t even bother with the store-bought stuff again!
5-Minute Homemade Biryani Masala is seriously a game changer! You just dry roast some whole spices, blend them up with a little salt and a few powdered spices, and that’s it. It’s super simple, and the best part is you can switch it up however you like. Cooking’s all about experimenting and having fun—so roll up your sleeves and try making your own Pakistani Biryani Masala!
A few years ago, I decided to ditch all the boxed masalas, and now I can’t even imagine going back. I make all my own spice blends, and sometimes I even give them as hostess gifts—people love them! Then I came up with my Sindhi Biryani Masala and people went crazy.
HOW TO MAKE THE PERFECT MASALA?
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Let's Make Homemade Biryani Masala!!!
5-Minute Homemade Biryani Masala
Ingredients
Whole Spices
- 18 dried long red peppers lal lambi sukhi mirch
- 12 bay leaves
- 6 cinnamon sticks
- 9 tbsp coriander seeds
- 3 tbsp cumin seeds
- 3 tbsp caraway seeds
- 1 mace
- 30 cloves
- 12 black cardamon
- 30 green cardamom
- 30 black peppercorns
- 9 star anise
- 3 tsp fennel seeds
- ⅓ piece netmug
Powder Spices
- 1½ tsp tumeric powder
- 6 tsp red chili powder
- 3 tsp kosher salt or as needed
Instructions
- In a fry pan, add in the whole spices and dry roast them for 1 minute.
- Let it cool down for 5-7 minutes.
- Now add only cinnamon sticks and mace and blend them until they are powder form.
- Add bay leaves and blend them until they are powder form.
- Next add the dry red chili peppers and blend them until they are powder form.
- Now add nutmeg and black cardamoms and blend them until they are powder form.
- Add anise stars and green cardamoms and blend them until they are powder form.
- Now add the rest of the whole spices and blend them until they are powder form.
- Next add whole spice powder that you just blended in a bowl.
- Now add powder spices and salt and mix well.
- Store in a air tight jar. Biryani Masala is good up to 4-5 months.
Saba says
Hi,
Was getting ready to make this today.
I don’t see black cardamom listed in the ingredients but it is in the pictures and detailed instructions. Can you please clarify? Thanks!
Sarah Mirza says
thank you so much for letting me know. It's fixed now. Sorry about that.
Please msg me when you're done with the recipe would love to get feedback. <3
Saba says
Thanks!
Will do. It looks like you tripled the quantities for Biryani Masala in your original post on Chicken Biryani. However, you did not triple the jaefal and javitri (mace and nutmeg). Should they be tripled or are they strong enough in small quantities?
First time trying your recipes so I'm really excited to see how it turns out!
Sarah Mirza says
yes Javitri and Nutmeg are empowering for this particular biryani masala. You don't want too much since this is mild biryani masala.
if you add too much of this in this recipe. it will taste weird, I made this mistake in the past. lol
Sarah Mirza says
Can't wait until you try this! remember for a mild version only use 4 tbsp of the biryani masala and for a much spicier version use 7 tbsp when adding the masala of course the masala is measured with 1.5 lbs of meat (chicken, goat, and beef).
Saba says
The masala was great! Everybody loved the biryani…a tall order as there were many foodies in attendance.. thanks for the delicious recipe!
Sarah Mirza says
Thank you so much <3 so happy to hear that.
CHRIS FULLINFAW says
Last weekend (Sep 24, 2023), I finally made it to biryani nirvana! For years, I had experimented with different biryani recipes and always ended up with a dish that nowhere resembled what it was supposed to look like. Until last weekend, that is.
I happened across your recipe and decided to give it a shot. I had a few small changes (i.e. I "steamed" the rice at the end in the oven instead of on the stovetop). The biryani turned out a little spicier than my family likes, so I will be toning it down slightly the next time I make it, this weekend!
Thanks so much for sharing your recipe - I know what I will be doing this weekend!
Sarah Mirza says
awww thank you means a lot. I personally make 4 times the masala then store it in a jar.
Then Adjust the quantity of the masala according to my taste that day if I want it spicy I use 4 tbsp of the masala.
If I want less spicer version I only use 2 tbsp in my biryani.
Chris Fullinfaw says
Thanks Sarah - that explains it. I used 6tbsps of the masala for 2lbs of chicken and 3.5 cups rice. Would you recommend 4 or 5 instead of 6?
Sarah Mirza says
In 3.5 cups of rice I would add 2.5 tbsp max 3 tbsp tops of this homemade biryani masala
when I am making a less spicier version of this masala.
Sarah Mirza says
Also try this: https://twoclovesinapot.com/5-minute-homemade-sindhi-biryani-masala/
this is much milder spice mix.