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Heirloom Recipes, Podis/Spice Mixes  /  April 24, 2021

Bewitching biriyani masala!

by Deepa
Jump to Recipe

A totally untrue but oh-so-familiar rice-spice love story featuring the best biriyani masala ever made…

I once had this dear love, who lived across the sea
& on his birthday each year I’d make spice for biriyani
It was carried away with caraway, elated with elaichi,
Warmed with cinnamon peeled from a tree, scraped from a stone this kalpasi,
In its lacy case of mace, javitri; stars in the shape of annachi
for he who would sniff and whiff his way to a cooking spree—
like that, so much fragrance, culled from the depths of me.
I wrapped my spice in rice, spirited to where he’d be
The one who’d wooed and wowed, and brought me all that glee
Only now I found him gone, though he was yet where I could see.
Spice slipped my hand, powder clouded, spread to my apogee
Redolence billowed like stifling smoke, escape without apology
The world turned bland and blasé, neem flowers showered debris
I’d given him all and then some, save for a jar of ghee.
There’s my salvation, I thought at last, there’s my repartee
It’s all that’s left but won’t leave me bereft, that’s a guarantee
Its golden light was about to ignite fires in the heart[h] of me.
Come! I commanded the spilled spices, this is for certain a pree
He may be gone, but I’m not shorn of all my dignity.
Shame became a black cooking pot, sorrow a ladle supreme
From spice and rice I conjured inside a veritable potpourri
& while the mint was about to wilt, the shallots on sautée
I cried and laughed and raged and smiled alternatingly
Though before my eyes was rising this rice, a triumphant biriyani.

The moral of the story: whatever you give away in life and love, hold on to that ghee!

For biriyani’s sake…

Note: But for the biriyani masala which is the truest thing ever (+ jeeraga samba from Himakiran @anugula which is the best), this is a work of pure fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental 😀

Note also: this recipe is adapted from Swasthi Shreekanth’s original, which you can find here. I’ve tweaked it here and there, and added rather more of this and that, and responsibility for the silly rhymes is entirely mine, but Swasthi’s masala mix was the original best masala, so deep bows to her for that.

Kalpasi, or stone flowers are a lichen: Parmotrema perlatum, which don’t seem like much, but which are like a touch of magic. They’re used a fair bit in chicken masalas in Chettinadu cuisine. Don’t settle for a masala without them!

The Best Biriyani Masala Ever!

Adapted & slightly modified from Swasthi's original here. This is a great go-to spice mix for any chicken dish, not just biriyani–although we use it in vegetable pulaos with paneer, too.
Print Recipe

Ingredients
  

  • 1 ½ teaspoons sonbu/saunf/fennel seeds
  • 2 tablespoons of shahi jeera
  • 1 tablespoon ordinary jeera
  • 2-3 bay leaves
  • 2 annachi poo/star anise
  • 12-15 green cardamom whole
  • 3 black cardamom/badi elaichi whole
  • 1 teaspoon milagu/black peppercorns
  • 5-6 whole cinnamon sticks 2” each
  • 1 tablespoon of cloves
  • 4 tablespoons of coriander seeds
  • 2 pieces of mace
  • ½ teaspoon of grated nutmeg
  • 5 pieces kalpasi or stone flowers

Instructions
 

  • Slowly dry roast all the ingredients on a low flame save the grated nutmeg and the stone flowers until crisp and fragrant.
  • Add in the nutmeg and stone flowers and transfer to the jar of a coffee grinder or blender. Pulse into a fine powder.
  • Transfer to a jar and use within 4-5 months or refrigerate to extend shelf-life up to a year.

Notes

Note that shahi jeera (Bunium Persicum, native to central Asia and northern India) and caraway seeds (Carum carvi, native to Western Asia, Europe, N. Africa) — are clearly not the same thing, and it’s worth your while to get the formed from an Indian grocer than to try to substitute one for the other!

Post navigation

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2 comments

  • Tamalapatra and Tvak – Pâticheri
    March 12, 2024

    […] at it, shahi jeera (Bunium Persicum, native to central Asia and northern India), called for in this biriyani masala, and caraway seeds (Carum carvi, native to Western Asia, Europe, N. Africa) are not the same […]

    Reply
  • Tamalapatra and Tvak – Pâticheri
    March 13, 2024

    […] at it, shahi jeera (Bunium Persicum, native to central Asia and northern India), called for in this biriyani masala, and caraway seeds (Carum carvi, native to Western Asia, Europe, N. Africa) are not the same […]

    Reply

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