If you have only whole cloves, fennel seed, Szechwan peppercorns, or star anise, you can grind them in a spice grinder or a mortar and pestle. I use a coffee grinder. Whole seeds grind down to much less volume, so use about 1.5 times the quantity before grinding. In other words, if you don't have fennel seed powder, start with 1 1/2 tablespoons of fennel seeds, and grind them to powder. You might need 2 tablespoons of star anise seeds to make 1 tablespoon of powder. You don't have to be precise in making this blend.

Mix with other ingredients and continue grind until all the ingredients are well grounded.

Filter large particles out, and keep the filtered ground powder mixture in an airtight container until use.