Chettinad Mushroom Biryani
Chettinad Mushroom Biryani is an aromatic rice dish from Southern India which is cooked with mushrooms and spices in coconut milk
Ingredients
- 1 cup Basmati Rice
- 200 grams White Button Mushrooms
- 1 large Onion
- 1 large Tomato
- 2 Green Chillies
- ¾ cup Coconut Milk (extracted from ½ cup grated coconut)
- 2 Bay leaves
- 2 inch Cinnamon
- 2 Cloves
- 1 pinch Stone Flower or Kal Pasi or Patthar ke phool
- 1 Star anise
- 2 Green Cardamom
- 1 Marathi Moggu
- ½ tsp Fennel Seeds
- ½ tsp Biryani Masala
- ¼ cup Fresh Mint Leaves
- 1 tsp Kashmiri Red Chilli Powder
- ½ tsp Turmeric Powder
- 1 tsp Dhaniya Powder
- 3 tbsp Ghee
- 1¼ cup Water
- Salt to taste
For Masala Paste
- 7 to 8 Shallots or Small Onion
- 1 Green chilli
- 4 cloves Garlic
- 1 inch Ginger
- 8 to 10 Mint Leaves
- 2 tbsp Chopped Coriander Leaves
- 1 inch Cinnamon
- 2 Cloves
- 1 tsp Fennel Seeds
- ¼ tsp Peppercorns
- 2 Green Cardamom
Instructions
- Wash and soak the basmati rice in water for around 20 minutes.
- For making the coconut milk, take half a cup of grated coconut in mixer jar and add half a cup of hot water and grind well.
- Use a sieve or coconut milk filter to filter it and extract the coconut milk. Now put the leftover coconut back in mixer and add another half cup of hot water and grind well and sieve again. This is second extract of coconut milk and you could mix it with the first extract for this recipe. This should yield around ¾ cup of coconut milk.
- Blend all the ingredients mentioned in the ground masala section to a smooth paste. You could add couple of tablespoons of water while grinding, if required.
- In a kadai or handi, heat 3 tablespoons ghee and add the whole spices mentioned in the main ingredients section. Add 1 or 2 green chillies broken in half. Add diced onions and saute for couple of minutes.
- Add the ground masala paste and cook for 3 to 4 minutes till the raw smell is gone.
- Next add the chopped mushrooms and cook for 2-3 minutes. You could keep the mushrooms bit chunky in this recipe.
- Add 1 tomato which is cut lengthwise and add turmeric powder, red chilli powder, dhaniya powder, some salt and biryani masala. Mix well and cook for couple of minutes.
- Now add the soaked rice, salt to taste and some fresh mint leaves and mix gently. Cook for a minute till the rice is coated well with all the masala. Then add the coconut milk and mix.
- The ratio for rice: liquid is 1:2. Since we added ¾ cup of coconut milk, so add 1¼ cup of water (for 1 cup of basmati rice). Add 1.25 cups of water and cover and cook on medium flame initially and then switch to low flame. The rice should take around 12-15 minutes to cook
- Open the lid and slightly fluff up the rice using a fork to release the steam trapped in the rice. Wait for 2 to 3 minutes for the steam to escape and then gently mix. Serve with raitha.
Notes
- If you do not have shallots or small onions, you could use one regular onion for the masala paste. However small onions or shallots taste great for this recipe.
- The use of coconut milk is important for this dish, as it gives a unique flavour and richness to the biryani.
- This biryani generally tastes best when made slightly spicy. Also the flavours are further enhanced when served around 2-3 hours after cooking.
- Be careful not to use too much of stone flower or kal pasi, as it could overpower the dish.
- This recipe also works great for a chettinad veg biryani with veggies of your choice.
- Once the biryani is cooked, let it rest for few minutes before opening the lid. Fluff up the rice using a fork and wait few minutes further before mixing it gently. This would ensure that the rice does not break while mixing.
- You could also add some deep fried onions on top before serving the biryani.