Mushroom Biryani, a vegetarian’s paradise

Been craving biryani, but the lockdown is pretty real too! I, fortunately, found mushrooms with the local vendor – and automatically it was time for mushroom biryani the next day! We have cooked mushroom biryani plenty of times in the past and I thought it was high time that I penned it down. Unliked meat biryani, this of course takes much less time to cook and hence, is perfect for a quick whip.

Here is another vegetarian biryani that I quite enjoy!

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Ingredients for Mushroom biryani – serves 4

• Mushrooms – 400g
• Rice – 1-1/2 cup
• Ginger-garlic paste – 1 tbsp
• Onion – 1, medium, sliced
• Tomato – 1, pureed
• Bay leaf – 2
• Green cardamom – 4 to 5
• Peppercorn – 6 to 8
• Cinnamon stick – 3 inch
• Turmeric – 1 tsp
• Red chilli powder – 1 tsp
• Coriander powder – 1 tbsp
• Desi ghee – 2 tbsp
• Rosewater – 1 tbsp
• Salt – to taste
• Coriander leaves – to garnish
• Food colouring (red and yellow) – each diluted in 1 tbsp water

Method

• Wash and slice the mushrooms. Microwave on high for 2 minutes and drain the extra water. This removes the peculiar smell mushrooms have.
• In a pressure cooker, add the rice and equal amount of water, a pinch of salt and cook just a little bit less than fully done.
• Meanwhile, in a pan or kadhai, heat the desi ghee, add the ginger garlic paste and onions and cook until the onions start browning.
• Add the bay leaves, cinnamon, cardamom, peppercorn, and cook for 2 minutes. Add the mushrooms and tomato puree and mix well.
• Season with salt, chilli powder, turmeric and coriander powder and mix it all together.
• Cook for about 15 minutes on medium-high heat so that the masala all comes together.
• Remove the mixture from the pan, and layer with the cooked rice. Add 1 cup water and the food colouring and cook for 7-10 minutes. Be careful that the rice doesn’t burn from the bottom-most layer. But a little crispy rice, called khurchan, taste all too good!
• Add the rosewater just before dishing out to the serving bowl. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve with a raita of your choice!