Biryani Masala (bulk recipe)

Grind all the spices below into a fine powder and store in airtight container. One fourth of this blend is enough for the Hyderabadi Chicken Biryani recipe, used in place of the spice mix in the recipe. To make it more spicy, use extra spice blend.

4 cinnamon sticks
4 black cardamom
20 green cardamom
1 teaspoon cloves
4 large bay leaves
4 teaspoons black cumin seeds (shahjeera), can substitute cumin
2 teaspoons black pepper
⅛ teaspoon nutmeg (optional)
⅛ teaspoon mace (optional)

The most important spices are cardamom, cloves and cinnamon. There are regional variations to the above mix which also include some coriander seeds, cumin seeds etc., but the list of spices above are the dominant ones in traditional biryani spice blends.