Wednesday 21 April 2010

Mushroom Biryani

Hope everyone is having a great week with sunny and bright days. The spring makes our life more livelier and happier, right? The green grass and the colourful flowers one sees around just boosts our energy and brings a big smile on our face. Oh ! how much I love this season... though here in UK the spring starts very late, unlike the spring I have seen in US. Which is more bright and lasts for long. What disappoints me is that, here in UK even the spring and summers are very windy :( Even in spring the kids need to wear fully covered clothes and one has keep his jacket(or atleast a cardigan) and an umbrella throughout the year with him- coz first you never know, when you start feeling cold coz of the winds and then, here you never know when or where it may start raining. Seriously ..... even if its sunny outside, it may rain for few minutes and then, you feel cold and shivering for some time and then again you may say the bright sun and YES all this in one single day :) The weather here changes every few hours.Now, when I am writing this post, I am loving the bright sun outside... but when I check the temperature outside its still 7°C , which is still cold according to me. Specially after returning from India just few weeks back, where the temperature was between 37 °C and 42°C. I know...I know...I am just complaining too much and I need to move on to today's recipe.
Coming to today's recipe...First let me tell you all that I am not a big fan of mushrooms and I have never been. But, when I bought a box full of mushrooms to cook veg hot-pot for my DH, I still had lot of mushrooms left in my refrigerator and was wondering what to cook with them. Then stumbled upon this Mushrom biryani recipe from Sanjeev kapoor's book- recipes for the Indian Kitchen and wanted to give it a try. And Voila ! the Biryani turned out sooooo yummmmy. I loved the mushrooms in this biryani and have decided to cook only MUSHROOM BIRYANI , whenever I buy Mushrooms. Or should I say I have started liking Mushrooms now :)

MUSHROOM BIRYANI

Ingredients:
15-20 fresh button mushrooms,
2 cups of Basmati rice,
2 medium Onions-finely sliced,3 tomatoes,
1 tbsp of ginger paste,
1 tbsp of garlic paste,1/4 cup of fresh coriander leaves,
1/2 cup of fresh mint leaves,
1/2 cup of yogurt,5-6 strands of saffron,
1/4 cup of milk,1 bay leaf,
4 cloves,
3 green cardamoms,
1 inch stick of cinnamon,
2 tbsp of oil,2 tsp of red chilli powder,1 tbsp of coriander powder,
1/2 tbsp of crushed peppercorns,
1/2 tsp cumin powder,
1/2 tsp turmeric powder,
1/2 tsp garam masala powder and
salt to taste.
Method:
Wash and soak the rice for half an hour.Wash and cut the mushrooms into quarters.Soak the saffron in warm milk. Heat the oil in a non vessel and add cardamom, cinnamon, bay leaf and cloves. Stir fry for few minutes and add finely sliced onion to the oil and stir fry over high heat till onions turn translucent. Meanwhile puree the tomatoes in a blender/ mixer and keep aside. When onion turn translucent, add ginger garlic paste and cook for further 4-5 minutes. Add red chilli powder, coriander powder, crushed peppercorns, cumin powder and turmeric powder. Stir-fry briefly for few minutes and add the pureed Tomatoes. Cook over medium heat for few minutes until the masala becomes thick.
Meanwhile boil 4-5 cups of water in a thick bottomed vessel, add 1 tsp of salt and 1 tsp of oil (to prevent the rice from sticking). When the water starts boiling add the rice and cook till the rice is 3/4th done. Drain in a colander and keep aside.
When the masala becomes thick, add the beaten yogurt, garam masala powder and 1/2 of the finely chopped coriander and and mint leaves. stir and cook for further 5 minutes. Now add the quartered mushrooms and some salt to taste. Stir fry over high heat for 2-3 minutes and remove from heat.
Arrange the cooked rice and the mushroom masala in alternate layers in big vessel, and sprinkle the chopped coriander leaves and mint and the milk with saffron in between. The upper most layer should be of rice. Cover with a tight lid and cook on low heat for 10-15 minutes or until the rice is done. Serve hot with some raita.


Note: Instead of adding the whole garam masala to the oil, one can even add them to the boiling water before adding the rice.
One can even layer the biryani in an oven proof dish, seal tightly with an aluminum foil and cook in a preheated oven at 160 c for 15-20 minutes

Source: Sanjeev kapoor's book- recipes for Indian Kitchen.

35 comments:

joseph said...

Hello Faiza
My name is Joseph Stephan, and I work in the domain of online food recipes. I discovered your blog and I really liked it.

I would like to contact you and discuss some issues about your blog, but unfortunately I could not find you email address.

If you don’t mind, could you please send your email address to joseph@shahiya.com.

Thanks :)

Valarmathi Sanjeev said...

Biriyani looks fantastic and yummy.

Pam said...

It looks delicious! I love mushrooms and am always looking for great recipes for them! Thanks!

Sushma Mallya said...

Nice recipe faiza, love mushrooms in anything, looks yum..

Angie's Recipes said...

Looks truly delicious!

Suji said...

Biriyanis are always welcome in our dinner tables..Faiza..this looks yummy ..Great color, lov ethe fried onions on top...yummo yummo

Love
KS

Prema said...

very nice recipe.my all time favourite.Love the fried onions on the top...Excellent.

Veggie Hut said...

very nice recipe.. must try recipe..

Indian food recipes said...

wow!perfecly prepared mush.biriyani!really mouthwatering clicks

Shabs.. said...

:)....I was thinking the same....uk weather...i too complain about it...yday was very sunny, took my son out, half way in park it became quite cold, following with a windy hour and then back to sun!!!!What the heck....recently when i visited scotland, i read in one of their tourist brochures like this ''Dont be put off with the scottish weather, you can see all four seasons in one day", I guess england is not bad either for that comment!!

BTW, like u, i too am not a fan of mushrrooms and have never been...But my hubby likes it much!anything with mushrroms....Iam sure he will like it...yours looks so good...bookmarking this one:)...thanks for posting.

Faiza Ali said...

Thanks valar, pam, Angie, Sushma, KS, Premalatha, J and sangi for your generous and lovely comments.

Soma Pradhan said...

Mushroom and jackfruit biryani have been in my to do list since ages...Yours have come out so well..Make me hungry

Faiza Ali said...

True shabs...I don't want to complain...but I don't like the weather her ...US weather was so much better.. and yeah, even my hubby will eat anything with mushrooms. Do try it , it was very quick and was yummy..

Thanks Soma or your lovely comment.

R said...

hey i happen to luv mushrooms, this looks so good :) sanjeev kapoor is def my fav chef! yes, srping weather has really brought a cheer in our lives here in US too, can't complain except for allergies :) UK weather is really unpredictable, and after coming back from Indian heat u r sure to notice the difference :)

Preethi Rajeev said...

Ok Faiza u have made my day, the pic is making drool and i really need to buy some mushrooms soon. yumm yumm

Ushnish Ghosh said...

Dear Faiza
How are you? I am unable to visit blogs due to the place I am in...This recipe is just awesome...it can come from your kitchen only..so nice
book marking it for my Vege friends..will surprise them as soon as I reurn home.
Cant wait to read all your postings

Subhie Arun said...

wow biriyani looks v invitin...u make my day..cravin for some now..lovely presentation yar!

Priya Suresh said...

Such a delicious and inviting briyani, looks fantastic Faiza..

Ann said...

Wow, thats new! I've never seen a mushroon biriyani till now. This makes sense, sometimes mushrooms (especially the wild, brown ones) take on an almost meaty taste when cooked like curry. I'd love to try this with portabello mushrooms. Clever idea!

gtyuk said...

yes, spring does me so much good too; I love this season, it's neither too cold nor too hot; but we need to keep our pullovers close too as it gets windy later in the evenings...

other than that, I simply enjoy the birds chirping and the lovely flowers blooming out after the winter hibernation...
ok, ok, let me come back to the recipe, your briyani looks just perfect !!! what else can one need, that's a delicious mushroom treat!!!

Swathi said...

Faiza

Mushroom biryani looks really awesome. I love mushroom so i will try this recipe.

Sook said...

Oh I love mushrooms. This dish looks so fantastic. :)

Rumana Rawat said...

Wow... This lovely briyani.. looks delicious...:-)

Rekha shoban said...

interesting and nice ...looks perfect dear!

My Kitchen Antics said...

Excellent idea..now i know what to do with left over mushrooms... :)
oh how i long for a proper summer where i can can go out wearing open shoes and not be worried about the weather going for a toss..but u know what when its about 21C here i complain saying its hot and my husband says im spoilt..haha...

Life is beautiful !!! said...

Wow!!! look at that :) Faiza thats one perfect biriyani...loved your blog so much. Thank you very much for visiting my blog and leaving your invaluable comment :)

Srividhya Ravikumar said...

hai... looks delicious.. do drop in at my site whenever.. following you

Namitha said...

Yes I know what you're talking about :-) The English weather is so famous for its unpredictability,rt
Biryani looks so delicious !

Gita Jaishankar said...

Briyani looks fantastic...this is new to me Faiza...looks superb and delicious :)

Urmi said...

Mushroom biryani looks delicious, spicy and mouth watering. Wonderful presentation.

San said...

I can see that you are rocking in your kitchen faiza.Planning to visit u soon :) I love mushrooms ,i do make mushroom biryani atleast once in a month but your version sounds captivating adding some curd n mint leaves.Inviting pic.My stomach is growling on seeing it :)

Siddhi Shirsat said...

wow faiza lovely mushroom biryani...loveed this version...looks super tempting...i love mushrooms n vl try this soon

Saraswathy Balakrishnan said...

can u pls send me a parcel tru UPS:) looks delicious and me drooling here:)

Malar Gandhi said...

I know its very cold sometimes even during this time of season, moreover we have hurricane warning...but I am in love with green-green-green grass, coming tot he recipe, perfectly made, looks spicy and inviting just the way I want it to be.:)

Parita said...

Wow the biryani looks awesome faiza! Yummmy!

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails