Biryani masala is easy enough to source at an Indian store or online. But no store-bought blend can compare with a spice mix you make at home with fresh whole spices that are roasted lightly, then powdered.
Take 10 minutes to make my easy biryani masala recipe and you will be cooking authentic-tasting Indian biryanis, like vegetable biryani and mushroom biryani, in no time at all! A single recipe yields enough for multiple uses.
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What is biryani masala?
Biryani masala is an aromatic powdered spice blend used to flavor biryani, a popular south Asian dish of rice cooked with meat and/or vegetables in a spicy, flavorful sauce.
If you want to learn how to make a great biryani, biryani masala is a non-negotiable ingredient. When this spice blend is added to biryani, its warm, savory, intense aroma wafts and weaves through the rice and the sauce, infusing every bite with delicious flavor.
I go head over heels for biryani and in the past, on my visits to the Indian store, I'd stock up on multiple packets of biryani masala powder because I couldn't imagine not having it on hand. Until I started making my own biryani masala, which, I discovered, was even better. That's because powdered spice blends rapidly lose their aroma and flavor and store-bought blends have been sitting on the shelves for heaven alone knows how long. But a homemade blend like this recipe starts with whole spices that you roast and blend yourself, so the food you add it to tastes much better. The recipe yields about 8 tablespoons - enough to make several pots of biryani - and the blend stays fresh and flavorful for a year.
But Vaishali, you might ask, why don't you just use garam masala to make biryani? Plenty of recipes online do that!
To which I'd say, garam masala is okay and you can make a decent enough biryani with it. But if you want a great biryani, an authentic biryani, a biryani that would make those you're feeding it to lick their spoons and go, "oh my god, this is the best biryani I ever ate," you need biryani masala.
Biryani masala has some ingredients in common with garam masala, but the proportions are different, and it also includes some additional ingredients like pomegranate seed powder, stone flower and caraway seeds. These ingredients, which can easily be sourced at Indian stores and online, add richness and flavor that's key to a good biryani.
You can use this biryani masala to make any of your favorite biryani recipes, including the dozen or so vegan biryani recipes I've posted on this blog. My favorites are dum aloo biryani, cauliflower biryani and vegan keema biryani. I hope you give it a try and cook up your own favorite biryani with this amazing spice mix!
Recipe card
Biryani Masala
Ingredients
- ¼ cup coriander seeds (dhania ke beej)
- 2 tablespoon cumin seeds (jeera)
- 1 teaspoon shah jeera (caraway seeds)
- 2 inch cinnamon stick (dalchini)
- 10 cloves (laung)
- ¼ whole nutmeg (jaiphal)
- 1 tablespoon black peppercorns (kali mirch)
- 7 pods green cardamom pods (hari elaichi)
- 2 pods black cardamom pods (badi elaichi)
- 1 teaspoon fennel seeds (saunf)
- 2 star anise (chakra phool)
- 1 teaspoon dried pomegranate seeds (anardana)
- 2 dried red chili peppers (lal mirch)
- 1 tablespoon stone flower (dagad phool/patthar phool)
Instructions
- Place all the ingredients on a dry skillet. Turn on heat to medium-low.
- Roast the ingredients for about five minutes until they are very aromatic and the coriander seeds are a couple of shades darker. Remove the spices to a plate or bowl and let them cool to room temperature.
- Place the spices in a blender or spice grinder and blend into a powder.
Notes
Nutrition Information
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Biryani masala FAQs
This recipe is very flavorful but it's not too spicy - as in lots-of-chili-peppers spicy - because that way I can better control how spicy the biryani is. Many of my friends, and Desi, can't tolerate very hot Indian food. If I am making a biryani for someone who prefers very spicy food, I simply add more cayenne to the biryani recipe.
You can store the biryani masala in an airtight container in a cool, dark spot for up to a year. While you can still use it after a year, it would likely have lost some of its flavor and aroma.
Yes. There are dozens of varieties of biryani across India, including Hyderabadi biryani, which is bold and spicy, Lucknowi biryani, which is subtle and aromatic, Kolkota biryani, which includes potatoes and additional aromatic ingredients like rose water, and Calicut biryani or Kerala biryani, with sweet and spicy notes, nuts and raisins. You can use this biryani masala to make any of these, including my Hyderabadi-style vegetable biryani.
Absolutely. You can add it to rice dishes, like pulao, masala khichdi and tehri.
First posted on March 21, 2019. Updated and re-published on Jan. 18, 2026.
Martin Evans says
Do I use the whole cardamom pods or split them and use the seeds inside?
Vaishali Honawar says
For the masala use the whole cardamom pods. This is the general rule - use the whole pods for mixing up masalas or when the recipe calls for using the whole pod. Peel the cardamom and use only the seeds when adding them to desserts. Hope that helps!
Dil says
Can I skip the dried plums? I don’t really like too much sweetness. Thanks
Vaishali says
Yes, sure, the plums don’t really add sweetness so much as they add complexity but you can certainly skip them.
Penny says
Hello! I love this website! Are the dry plums you mention the same as prunes? Or is there a dry plum specific to Indian cooking? Thanks.
Vaishali says
Hi Penny, the Indian plums are smaller and usually available at the Indian store, but the prunes we get here would be perfectly fine. Just chop them up first before adding to the masala.
Cheryl says
I can't wait to try this, but I am not sure; does dry plum mean prunes, as we would have in the US? Those seem too moist to keep in a jar. Could you point me to a product you like? Thank you so much, I'm very excited to try this!
Edward says
Do you dry roast the spices before grinding them? Thanks
Vaishali says
No need to roast!
Alexandre says
I am a big lover of Indian food and I have been following you for quite a long time. This masala seems amazing. I ordered the 3 spices missing in my pantry and I'll try it... Tank you!!
Vaishali says
Awesome, so happy you're trying it!
Lallie Pillay says
Thank you for sharing amazing recipes
Especially the Briyani spice
I love briyani
Vaishali says
Thanks Lallie! 🙂
Maggie says
Thank you for this recipe. I love biryani. I'm looking forward to having such fresh spices to make the biryani recipes you have provided. Thank you!
Vaishali says
Thanks, Maggie, hope you try it! Nothing can beat a freshly ground spice mix. 🙂
paramasivam samanna says
I keep most every thing to make south and north indian dishes.But your Masala spice mix extends more to the buying, more jars and so on, not only that these are used not very often. I was in Chennasi recently stayed 3 months, Briyani restuarents are poping up every corner of the city. Last year we were in chennai also , happened to take home Thalapakattu Briyani, Very bad one, loaded with way too much masala . Have you ever heard of Ambur briyani
my home town is 18 miles away from it. good briyanis less with spices, pale color all those really good, prowen over the years of existence. read Hindu paper article.
Vaishali says
Hi, keep in mind you don't use up all of the spices in one recipe -- like it says in the instructions, you have enough here for at least three liberal uses, and perhaps many more. Most biryani recipes, including all I post, usually call for between 1 tsp to 2 tbsp of masala, which is not a lot if you're making biryani with 2-3 cups of rice. Otherwise your biryani won't have any fragrance or aroma.
Lynn says
Is there a measurement for the stone flower/dagad phool? And I'm assuming the pomegranate seeds are dried, right? Thanks!
Vaishali says
1 tsp dagad phool! And yes dry pomegranate seeds.