Mushroom pulao is a dish that you will likely find in every curry lovers and it’s somewhat of a guilty pleasure of mine if I’m honest. Mushrooms aren’t widely used in traditional Indian cuisine, but when they are, great things are possible! I like to use mushrooms because the texture can be quite meaty and the flavour released when they cook is quite ‘brothy’. This is a lovely, simple, little dish, but it certainly delivers on flavour. You can use any type of mushroom you like – I use a mix of shiitake, chestnut and white mushrooms.
Ingredients for 5 Serves
- 4 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 2 garlic cloves, finely diced
- 4 shiitake mushrooms, cut into 5-mm/¼-inch slices (about 7 0 g/½ cup)
- 8 chestnut mushrooms, cut into 5-mm/¼-inch slices (about 120 g/1 cup)
- 8 closed cup white mushrooms, cut into 5-mm/¼-inch slices (about 120 g/1 cup)
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon cracked black pepper
- 500 g/scant 3 cups basmati rice (rinsed)
- 2 tablespoons ghee
- 1 tablespoon freshly chopped coriander/cilantro
How to make mushroom pulao
Heat the vegetable oil in a heavy-bottomed pan over medium heat and fry the cumin seeds until they crackle and pop. Add the garlic and fry until lightly browned. Add all the sliced mushrooms and fry for 5–6 minutes until cooked. Stir occasionally to prevent them from sticking to the bottom of the pan.
Add the paprika, salt and pepper and mix well. Add the rice and mix well so that the mushrooms and rice are evenly distributed.
Pour over 750 ml/3 cups of water and gently bring to the boil. Once the water starts to boil, reduce the heat to low, cover the pan with a lid and simmer gently for 10 minutes.
Once the rice grains are fully cooked but still retain a little bite, remove the pan from the heat and set aside with the lid on for 6–8 minutes, so that the grains continue to steam and puff up nicely in the pan.
Add the ghee, mix well to cover the rice grains, then sprinkle over the freshly chopped coriander/cilantro
Tthe mushroom pulao recipes has cooked and ready to be served. Enjoy !!
