Mushroom dum briyani

Ingredients

1. 2 and half cups rice
2. 2-3 bay leaves (tej patta)
3. 4 cloves (laung)
4. 2 cinnamon each of 1 inch (dal chini)
5. 2 pinch of grated nutmeg (jaiphal)
6. 5 green cardamoms (hari elaichi or choti elaichi)
7. 3-4 mace strands (jayitri, javitri)
8. 5 cups water
9. Salt
10. 3 large onions sliced
11. 4 tbsp oil
12. 500 gms mushroom
13. 1/2 inch ginger and 2-3 garlic crushed or made into paste in a mortar-pestle
14. 1.5 cups beaten curd/yogurt
15. 1 tsp red chili powder or yellow chili powder
16. 2 tsp caraway seeds (shah jeera)
17. 2 cloves (laung)
18. 4 peppercorn (sabut kali mirch)
19. 1 cinnamon (dal chini)
20. 2 green cardamom (hari elaichi or choti elaichi)
21. 2 bay leaves (tej patta)
22. 2-3 mace strands (jayitri, javitri)
23. 3/4th of the birista (crushed)
24. 2 tbsp ghee
25. Salt
26. 1/4th of the birista
27. 10-12 strands of saffron dissolved in 2 tbsp of warm milk or warm water
28. 1/2 cup chopped mint leaves
29. 1 tbsp ghee

Preparation Steps

1. Pick, clean and wash the rice.in a pan add the whole spices, water, rice and salt
2. Cook the rice till its ¾ th done.remove the spices from the rice and keep aside.you could also make a bouquet garni with the rice and cook it with the rice.slice the onions and shallow fry them in oil till they become golden brown.take care not to burn the onions.keep aside.in the same pan which you fried the onions add ghee
3. If there is leftover oil in the pan..
4. Then add 2 tbsp ghee instead of 3 tbsp to the oil
5. Once the ghee melts add the caraway seeds and all of the whole spices.fry for a minute

6. Now add the mushrooms and saute for 5 mins.add the chili powder and mix it well with the mushroms.add ¾th of the crushed birista and saute it with the mushrooms for a minute.now add the beaten curd and mix it with the mushrooms
7. Simmer for 4-5 minutes.afterwards add ½ cup of water and salt to the mushrooms and simmer for a further 10 mins.in a pan pour spoonfuls of the mushroom gravy and spread it evenly
8. This is your first layer.add the second layer of the cooked rice on top of the first layer.sprinkle the saffron milk/water.also add some birista and chopped mint leaves.make the third layer of the mushroom gravy.cover it finally with the fourth layer of rice.again add the saffron milk and the birista along with chopped mint leaves.add some dots of ghee here and there.cover the pan and cook on dum for 20-25 minutes on a low flame.serve the mushroom biryani hot or warm with sliced onions and lemon salad, raita and papad.