BIRIYANI MASALA

Ingredients 
-------------------

• 1 bay leaf (tej patta)
• 1½ tsp fennel seeds (saunf)
• 2 star anise (chakri phool)
• 6 green cardamoms (elaichi)
• 2 black cardamoms (badi elaichi)
• 1 tsp black peppercorn (kalimirch)
• 5 cinnamon sticks (dalchini)
• 1 tbsp cloves (lavang)
• 4 tbsp coriander seeds (dhania)
• 2 tbsp caraway seeds (shahjeera)
• 3 medium sized stone flowers (dagad phool)

Method:
-------------

• Clean the spices, discard stones and debris if any..

• On a low flame, dry roast all the spices separately and cool them.

You can also sun dry them for a day or two till they become crisp.

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

Use 1 tsp per cup of rice when making biriyani.

Note:
---------

• Do not put the coarse powder that is left after sieving in your biriyani as it will ruin the dish. You can put it in curries or while making masala tea.

• Roasting the spices, or drying them in the sun, brings out the aroma of the spices and prevents the masala from going bad or getting worms.

• If you like the flavour of saunf, you can increase the quantity to 1 or 1½  tbsp. 

* You can also use this masala for preparing all kinds of dry non veg dishes.