Mushroom Biryani

This is a combination of the Malabar Egg Biryani recipe I'd posted earlier (which itself was taken from Mishmash's post Egg Biryani Finally Makes It to the Hall of Fame ) and the Brinji Rice that my cook makes when we are out of other options. I made a variation of the elaborate biryani masala (in a not so elaborate way). Here is how I made this afternoon's mushroom biryani.
For the Rice 


Ingredients:

• Basmati Rice - 2 cups
• Water - 3 cups
• Coconut Milk - 1 cup

(Add water/coconut milk in a 1:2 ratio; if the coconut milk is too thick, adjust the water accordingly)

• Shajeera - 2 tsp
• Bayleaf - 2
• Cloves - 3-4
• Star Anise - 2
• Ginger Garlic Paste - 1 tbsp
• Chilly Paste - 1 tsp
• Salt - to taste 
• Yellow Food Color - a pinch 
• Ghee - 3tbsp

Method:

• Wash the basmati rice well and soak it in water for 20 mins.
• Heat ghee in a thick bottomed pan (I used my pressure cooker itself)
• Splutter the shajeera (you could use normal jeera if you dont have this), add the bay leaf, cloves and star anise and fry for 30 seconds. 
• Add the ginger garlic paste and the green chilly paste and fry till the raw smell disappears.
• Add the rice and fry for 1 min.
• Add salt and the food color.
• Add 3 glasses of water and 1 glass of coconut milk and cook uncovered till the rice is almost done (By now the water would have evaporated and the rice would have been 80% cooked) - Take care not to add too much water;esp if the coconut milk is thick, you may want to reduce the water. The taste of the biryani is lost if the rice is over or under cooked.
• Set aside

For the Biriyani Masala:


Ingredients

• Onions - 2 large ones thinly sliced
• Tomatoes- 3 big ones (I had very small ones, so I used 5)
• Ginger-Garlic Paste - 2 tbsp
• Green Chilly Paste - as per taste (I made it out of 8 green chillies as I like it spicy)
• Biriyani Masala - 3 tbsp (a coarsely ground powder of the below ingredients)

• Cloves - 4-5
• Green Cardamom - 2
• Black Cardamom - 1
• Cinnamon Stick - 2
• Jeera - 1 tsp
• Shajeera - 2 tsp
• Star Anise - 2
• Nutmeg - 1/2
• Nutmace - 1/2
• Saunf (Perunjeeragam) - 1 tsp
• Peppercorns - 4-5
• Mushroom - Cut into 2
• Peas - 1 cup
• Potatoes - 2 or 3
• Sour Curd/Yogurt - 1 cup
• Salt - to taste
• Mint Leaves - a handful
• Curry Leaves - 2-3 sprigs
• I also added 1 tsp of Sakthi Biryani Masala as I had an opened packet
• Ghee - 3 tbsp
• Gingelly Oil - 2 tsp (it enhances the flavour)
• Any other veggies you want

Method:

• Heat ghee in a thick bottomed pan.
• Fry the onions till translucent
• Add the ginger garlic paste and fry till the raw smell disappears
• Add the chilly paste and fry well
• Add the tomatoes and cook till they are mushy.
• Add the biryani masala, salt, mushrooms and other vegetables along with the mint and curry leaves and cook covered (You may want to add a little water here-not too much as the veggies and tomatoes will bring out water on their own)
• When the mushrooms and veggies are cooked, add sour curd and cook till dry.

 For the Seasoning (Deep fry all the above individually in ghee/oil and set aside)

• Onions - 2 big thinly sliced
• Brown Raisins
• Cashew Nuts
• Ghee/Oil - for frying

Finally, making the biriyani

• This is a fairly simple step. All you have to do is layer it in a thick bottomed vessel. 
• Add a little ghee , place one layer of the masala, sprinkle some masala powder and fried seasoning and then layer it with the almost cooked basmati rice.
• Then  repeat the process (Veggie masala, masala powder, seasoning and then rice).
• Cover the vessel with a lid and then wrap it with a piece of cloth so that the steam does not escape (I had to use the help of my heavy chapati rolling stone and roller for this). 
• Cook this biryani on Dum for 15-20 minutes on low flame. 
• After setting it aside for another 20 minutes, open the lid and mix the biryani.
• It is now ready to serve.