This post was updated on 4th, December 2021 with a little variation in the recipe after retesting. Getting a ready-made nihari masala is super convenient. If you make nihari often or you can’t find nihari masala the effort is worth it. And you can easily do it in a coffee grinder. This is a small-batch recipe. I purposely kept the recipe small-sized so you can try a small batch before doubling or tripling the recipe for a large batch. Although, I feel this recipe is very close to the store-bought product with less red chili. Making your own masala is easy and gives you complete control over spices. Since homemade means healthy and tastier choice. This masala is flavorful, very close to the store-bought
aromatic. fresh no preservative no artificial colors no MSG.
You can use the spice mix in these recipes.
Beef Nihari Chicken Nihari
Whole Spices: Cinnamon, clove, bay leaf, and pepper are common whole spices at you probably have them. You substitute each of these whole spice with ½ teaspoon ground spice. Cardamom: The top of the photo has whole spices like black and green cardamom. Green cardamom is used in desserts too like vanilla. Star anise: It is less and you can skip that. You substitute ½ teaspoon ground spice. Long pepper: This is a specific spice that is used in Nihari. If you make nihari often, consider buying it or substituting it with freshly ground pepper. Cumin: We are using two cumins in the recipe. You can substitute regular cumin for black cumin. Black cumin is also known as shah zeera or kala zeera in Hindi. It has a stronger aroma compared to regular cumin. I love this spice and you can use it in most traditional Indian nonveg curries, like kunna, aloo gosht, and haleem. You can substitute with ground cumin in the same measure. Fennel Seeds: Fennel seeds are particularly necessary for this recipe as they have a prominent aroma in nihari so don’t skip it. Not sure what to do with the remaining fennel seeds? You can use them to make mukhwas or fennel tea which has many benefits. Coriander seeds: If substituting this with ground coriander then scale the quantity to half. Tumeric and red chili are common ground spices. Kashmiri chili adds that vibrant nihari color. You can use paprika or a little red food color.
If you try this Nihari masala, I’d LOVE to hear your feedback in the comments. Your 5-ratings motivate me to do my best. Stay connected for more recipes and videos on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube. The ready-made spice mix is spicier and has a flavor enhancer too. If you are hesitant to buy these spices, you can use most spices in Indian cooking and some in Arabic food too. The two less-used spices are long pepper (which you can skip) and fennel.
Haleem Masala Kaari masala
📖 Recipe
