Tandoori masala is one of the most iconic Indian spice blends originally made with several traditional Indian ingredients. So, let’s bring you an incredibly flavorful homemade Tandoori masala recipe, which is way better than any of those you buy at the store!

We don’t want to mislead you by saying this counts only a few simple ingredients. In fact, an authentic tandoori masala calls for a number of spices, and you got to have them all! So, let’s get started.

Need to know how tandoori masala spice mix stands out from other ordinary spice blends? Then, click on this link and refer to our detailed article to learn everything about this quintessential Indian spice blend.

The Best Homemade Tandoori Masala Recipe

5 from 1 vote

Recipe by SpiceRally

Servings

1 cup

servings

Prep time

minutes

Total time

minutes

Our version of tandoori masala spice mix is rich in color, flavor, and aroma. This unique spice blend combines several flavorful spices to complement dishes like Tandoori Chicken, Tandoori Paneer Tikka, Tandoori Aloo, etc.

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Ingredients

Spices
2 tsp 2 Cumin seeds
2 tsp 2 Coriander seeds
1 tsp 1 Fennel seeds
3-4 3-4 Cinnamon sticks (2 inch)
14-15 pods 14-15 Green cardamom
3 pods 3 Black cardamom
1 tsp 1 Cloves
1/2 1/2 Whole nutmeg
1 tsp 1 Whole black peppercorns
1 1 Star anise
2 2 Florets of Mace
1 1 Dry ginger (2×2-inch Piece)
6 6 Kashmiri Red Chilies (Whole dried)
7 – 8 7 – 8 Dry red chilies
1 tbsp 1 Dry fenugreek leaves (Kasuri methi)
Equipment
1 1 Skillet or a Pan
1 1 Spice grinder
1 1 Sieve
1 1 Tightly-fitting Mason jar that holds about 1 cup of this blend

Directions

Start by dry-roasting the spices in three separate batches.
First, keep the skillet or the pan on low flame and add the cumin seeds, coriander seeds, and fennel seeds and dry roast them for 1-2 minutes until the spices are fragrant. Make sure not to brown or burn the ingredients. Remove them from the pan and let them cool down.
Next, break the cinnamon sticks into small pieces and dry-roast them along with green cardamom, black cardamom, black pepper, cloves, mace, nutmeg, and star anise for about 3-5 minutes again until the spices turn aromatic. After 5 minutes, break the piece of dry ginger into small parts and dry-roast them with the spices above for another 1 minute. Remove everything from the pan and leave aside to cool down.
In the last batch, dry-roast Kashmiri red chilies and dry red chilies for about 3-5 minutes in the same pan, maintaining the lowest flame. Once the chilies turn fragrant, remove them and set them aside to cool down.
Once all the spices come down to room temperature, put them into the jar of the spice grinder and grind them coarsely. Stop the grinder, open the lid of the jar, add one tablespoon of fenugreek leaves (Kasuri methi), and grind everything together until you get a fine powder.
Run the mixture through a sieve and re-grind if any big chunks are left in the sieve.
Your homemade tandoori masala is now ready! Use it immediately with your dishes, or store it in a tightly-fitting mason jar to use as desired. This mixture will stay flavorful for about four months.

Notes

You can find all these spices if you visit an Indian store, or you can easily purchase them online.
We have used Kashmiri red chilies for flavor and color and red chilies to add a hot kick to our blend. So, if you wish to make your recipe less hot, skip the red chilies and follow up with only Kashmiri red chilies.
Feel free to add about one teaspoon of garlic powder to enhance the taste.
Fenugreek leaves are an essential ingredient in this blend, but if you can’t find them, substitute them with the same amount of dried celery leaves.