The very first time when i had mushroom biryani with my friends from a small indian restaurant in Tekka Market S'pore, I was mesmerized by its luscious smell. The rich and flavourful indian spices in a tomato based mushrooms gravy cooked to perfection! The look of tender mushroom pieces scattered around in the aromatic basmati rice with fried cashews and raisins were really appetizing. Since then i always used to drag my family to this same place whenever we visit Tekka market. While me and Vikram indulge on this special biryani accompanied with raita and Jelebi Vishnu used to feast on his favourite mutter paneer with Ghee paratta.
When my google search din't hit on a proper recipe i decided to come up with a recipe of my own and here it is...........
For Rice1. Basmati Rice - 2 cups(I use the 160ml cup that comes with the rice cooker)
2. Cardomom- 3 nos
3. Cloves - 4 nos
4. Cinnamon - 1" stick
5. Bayleaves- 2 nos
6. Star anise - 1
For GravyFresh Button Mushrooms - 3/4 kg
Big Onion - 3
Green Chilly - 4
Tomato - 2
Tomato Sauce - 2 dsp
Ginger Garlic Paste - 1 1/2 tsp
Turmeric Powder - 2 dsp
Chilly powder - 1 tsp
Chicken Masala powder/ coriander Powder - 2 tbsp
Ghee - 1/2 cup or as rqd
Mint leaves
Coriander Leaves
Curry Leaves
Raisins
Cashew nuts
RiceSoak the rice for an hour. Heat 2 Tbsp ghee in a pan and slightly fry cardomom cloves bayleaves cinnamon and star anise. To this add the soaked drained rice and fry for 2 minutes in low flame. Transfer to the rice cooker and add 4 cups of water and salt. Cook till done. Keep it aside.
GarnishingHeat ghee in a pan and fry cashew nuts and raisins. Keep them aside. Slice the onions thinly. take 1/3 of the sliced onions and fry it in ghee until they are crispy and golden brown. Chop the mint leaves and coriander leaves.
Making the gravyWash , Clean and cut the mushrooms. I read before that it is not necessary to wash the mushrooms as it will become soggy. So just wipe it with kitchen tissue. But i prefer to wash them anyway . And also I will discard the black colourerd part of the mushrooms although it is edible. This is a time consuming process. Boil the mushrooms with salt and turmeric powder in 1/2 cup water. Cook till all the water evaporates. Heat a pan and add the rest of the oil / ghee. Fry onions till they become translucent. Add crushed green chillies and ginger garlic paste. When the raw smell goes add tomatoes and saute. When the oil start to seperate add chicken masala powder and chilly powder and tomato sauce. Saute for 2 minutes. Add the cooked mushrooms and throw a handfull of mint leaves coriander leaves and curry leaves. check for salt and add if rqd. You may add 2 Tbsp of water if the mushroom masala mix is dry. Leave it covered on low flame for few minutes till the mushrooms are well coated with the masala.
Pre heat the oven to 180 degrees. Take a deep oven proof dish and grease it with ghee. Put a layer of rice and Sprinkle fried onions cashews raisins and some mint and coriander leaves. Take the mushroom masla mix and layer it on top of rice. Arrange the rest of the rice and masala mix in the same way. Make sure Rice should be on top when it is done with cashews raisins and onions. Cover the dish with aluminium foil and bake it for 10 minutes or till done.
Serve hot with dates pickle, mint chutney and cucumber salad.
Getting the batter in its correct texture is quite tricky in Australia due to the weather conditions. My friend's mother taught us an easy way......always keep 2 tbsp of old batter in fridge and add it to the new one. Like this way you can get the batter in its correct texture by keeping it overnight. Another friend told me to keep the batter in a preheated oven overnight. I think this will work well too.
