This was so good (as…

This was so good (as mentioned in previous entry) that I have to share:

Mushroom Biryani

(serves 8 brown people for dinner, or 16 white people :-)

    Pilaf Ingredients:

  • 4 c. rice (whatever kind you like; I used Japanese 'cause I like it sticky)
  • 4 c. vegetable broth
  • 4 c. water
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 1-2 tsp. saffron
  • 1/4 tsp. rose essence (much more concentrated than rose water, if you can't find it, use rose water and reduce regular water appropriately)

    Mushroom curry ingredients:

  • 3 yellow onions, chopped
  • 4 T unsalted butter
  • 2 T oil
  • 1 T minced or grated ginger
  • 3 large cloves garlic, chopped
  • 2 lbs. mushrooms, quartered
  • 14.5 oz. can chopped tomatoes, drained
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 2-3 tsp. Ceylon curry powder

    Optional ingredients:

  • 3 yellow onions, sliced
  • 3 hard-boiled eggs, halved
  1. Combine pilaf ingredients in pot. Bring to a boil, turn down heat to low and cover. Simmer 20 min. or so until rice is cooked. Set aside.

  2. Saute yellow onions in butter and oil until golden. Add ginger and garlic, saute a few minutes more. Add mushrooms, tomatoes, salt, curry powder. Cook at medium-high, stirring periodically, until liquid is reduced to almost nothing, and the mushrooms are slightly browned and delicious. Taste and adjust salt as required.

  3. Add mushrooms to pilaf in a large baking dish, mixing thoroughly. Optional: add three sliced onions, which have been fried in oil with a bit of salt until crispy. Decorate if you like with six hard-boiled egg halves, arranged in a circle, pressed into the biryani mixture. Bake covered 30 min. at 350 degrees (you can skip this is if you're in a hurry, but it melds the flavors a bit more). Serve hot.

9 thoughts on “This was so good (as…”

  1. Mary Anne Mohanraj

    White people consistently eat about half as much rice as brown people do at my dinner parties. Really used to throw off my calculations until I got used to it.

    I’m still astonished, after thirteen years, at how little rice Kev puts on his plate; we always made a bed of rice and then put small amounts of different curries on the bed.

  2. My white husband eats much less rice than I do. Of course, I like most Asian food better and lover the rice soaked with sauce, where as he’s like “where’s the meat?”

    Makes for interesting dinners. This looks good. I’ll have to try. What is Ceylon Curry Powder? Something you made or a specific type of powder? I usually make my own curry powder so I’m wondering what recipe to use…

  3. Mary Anne Mohanraj

    I make my own (it’s in my cookbook), but Indian stores with a Sri Lankan section sometimes sell a version of it.

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