Mushroom Biryani (One Pot)

Mushroom biryani recipe with step by step photos. This is a spicy, tasty and easy one-pot mushroom biryani recipe from the Chettinad cuisine. This is the vegetarian version of popular Chettinad biryani made with mushrooms.

Mushrooms make a regular appearance in our meals and I make many recipes with them. Some time back I had made this mushroom biryani and thus also clicked pics. The taste of this biryani always reminds me of a biryani I had some years back whilst traveling in south India on a train journey.

I referred some cookbooks as well as videos and experimented & came up with this recipe. Apart from this recipe, there are few more ways you can make a mushroom and rice combo:

1. Ambur biryani (with mushrooms)
2. Dindigul Biryani (with mushrooms)
3. Mushroom Fried Rice

To make this mushroom biryani, you will need some ingredients like coconut milk and curd/yogurt. Coconut milk can be made a day before or you can even use store bought coconut milk. You can skip the curd, but I would not suggest skipping coconut milk. Its an essential ingredient in this recipe. Though its best to use both of them.

The Chettinad biryani is spicy and thats the hallmark of Chettinad cuisine. if you cannot tolerate the heat and spice, then you can cut down on the number of green chilies. The preparation of this biryani takes some time as both mushrooms and rice are marinated. But the cooking is easy and one pot.

Unlike other Biryanis, This mushroom biryani is not layered and dum cooked, but a one pot recipe like I mentioned above. You can also make the biryani in a pressure cooker.

Usually seeraga samba rice is used while making most biryanis in South India. But you can also use basmati rice instead of seeraga samba rice. Since I do not get seeraga samba rice, I have used basmati rice.

Serve this Chettinad style mushroom biryani with onion tomato raita or even a side vegetable salad.

How to make mushroom biryani

Prepping rice

1. First rinse rice very well in water. Then soak the rice in water for 30 minutes.

2. After 30 minutes, drain the rice and add 1 tsp ghee to it.

3. Coat the rice with ghee very well and allow to marinate for 20 to 25 minutes. Instead of marinating, you can also saute the rice in ghee lightly.

Prepping veggies

4. When you keep the rice for soaking, prep the ingredients. First rinse or wipe dry and then quarter the mushrooms. Take the mushrooms in a mixing bowl.

5. Slice thinly 2 medium onions. Chop 1 medium to large tomato. Also chop 3 to 4 green chilies, 3 to 4 medium garlic cloves and ½ inch ginger. Also chop mint leaves and coriander leaves (cilantro leaves).

Preparing ground paste

6. In a small grinder or chutney grinder, take ¼ cup chopped mint leaves, ¼ cup chopped coriander leaves, chopped green chilies, garlic & ginger.

7. Add ½ tbsp water and grind to a smooth paste.

Marinating mushrooms

8. Add the ground paste along with 3 tbsp curd to the chopped mushrooms. Curd can be skipped in the recipe. Just marinate the mushrooms with the rest of the ingredients.

9. Add ¼ to ⅓ tsp turmeric powder, ½ tsp red chilli powder, ½ tsp garam masala powder and 1 tsp coriander powder (ground coriander).

10. Gently mix all the ingredients with the mushrooms. Cover and keep aside to marinate for 30 to 40 minutes.

11. Take all the whole spices and keep aside. the spices in clockwise order are 1 tsp fennel seeds, 2 green cardamoms, 2 marathi moggu (optional), 1 medium to large tejpatta (Indian bay leaf), 6 to 7 black pepper, 1 inch cinnamon, 3 to 4 cloves, 1 small piece of stone flower (optional) and 2 single strands of mace.

Making mushroom biryani

12. Heat 2 to 2.5 tbsp oil in a thick bottomed pot or pan. Add the whole spices and saute them till they are fragrant.

13. Then add the sliced onions.

14. Stir very well and saute them on a low to medium flame. Add a pinch of salt for quick cooking of the onions.

15. Stir often and saute till the onions become golden.

16. Add the tomatoes.

17. Stir and saute the tomatoes for about 2 minutes.

18. Add the marinated mushrooms.

19. Stir very well and saute the mushrooms for 6 to 7 minutes.

20. In the bowl, there will be some marinade left. Add 1 cup of water and mix the marinade with the water. Add water as required depending on the quality of rice. You can add from ½ to 1 cup water. Since I used organic basmati rice, I added 1 cup of water.

21. The mushrooms should shrink and you should see oil specks on top. Now add this water to the mushrooms.

22. Add 1 cup of thick coconut milk.

23. Stir well.

24. Season with salt.

25. Stir. Check the taste of the gravy/stock and it should taste a bit salty.

26. On a medium flame bring the mixture to a boil.

27. Then add the ghee coated rice. Mix gently.

Cooking mushroom biryani

28. Cover the pot or pan with a lid.

29. On sim or low flame cook the biryani till the rice grains are done. Check once or twice when rice is cooking. It took me 12 minutes for the rice to cook. Depending on the thickness and depth of the pan, quality of rice and flame intensity, it can take 10 to 12 minutes. Once the rice grains are cooked, cover and allow to stand for 5 minutes before serving mushroom biryani. Then gently fluff the rice with a fork.

30. Garnish with mint or coriander leaves and Serve mushroom biryani with a side salad or raita.

More rice recipes

• Veg biryani
• Paneer biryani
• Mushroom pulao

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Mushroom Biryani

4.93 from 28 votes

By Dassana Amit

This is a spicy, tasty one-pot mushroom biryani recipe from the Chettinad cuisine. You can make this mushroom biryani on the stove-top in a pan or pressure cooker and in the Instant Pot as well with my instructions listed in the recipe card.

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Prep Time 30 mins

Cook Time 25 mins

Total Time 55 mins

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Cuisine Chettinad, South Indian

Course: Main Course

Diet: Gluten Free, Vegetarian

Difficulty Level: Moderate

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Servings 3

Units

US CustomaryMetric

Ingredients

For marinating rice

• ▢ 1 cup basmati rice (heaped) - 200 grams or seeraga samba rice
• ▢ 1 teaspoon ghee for marinating rice

For ground green masala paste

• ▢ ¼ cup chopped mint leaves
• ▢ ¼ cup chopped coriander leaves (cilantro)
• ▢ 3 to 4 green chilies
• ▢ 3 to 4 garlic cloves - small to medium-sized
• ▢ ½ inch ginger
• ▢ ½ tablespoon water

For marinating mushrooms

• ▢ 200 to 250 grams white button mushrooms - quartered
• ▢ 3 tablespoons Curd (yogurt)
• ▢ ¼ to ⅓ teaspoon turmeric powder (ground turmeric)
• ▢ ½ teaspoon red chilli powder or cayenne pepper
• ▢ ½ teaspoon Garam Masala Powder
• ▢ 1 teaspoon coriander powder (ground coriander)

Other ingredients

• ▢ 2 to 2.5 tablespoons oil - any neutral tasting oil or coconut oil
• ▢ 1 inch cinnamon
• ▢ 2 green cardamoms
• ▢ 3 to 4 cloves
• ▢ 6 to 7 black pepper
• ▢ 1 tejpatta - medium to large-sized (Indian bay leaf)
• ▢ 2 single strands of mace
• ▢ 1 stone flower - small piece, (dagad phool or pathar phool) - optional
• ▢ 2 marathi moggu (kapok buds) - optional
• ▢ 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
• ▢ 2 onions (medium-sized) - 100 grams, thinly sliced
• ▢ 1 tomato (medium to large) - 80 grams, chopped
• ▢ ½ to 1 cup water or add as required
• ▢ 1 cup thick coconut milk
• ▢ salt as required

For garnish

• ▢ 2 to 3 tablespoons chopped coriander leaves or 1 to 2 tablespoons mint leaves

Instructions

Prepping rice

• First rinse rice very well in water. Then soak the rice in water for 30 minutes.
• After 30 minutes, drain the rice and add 1 tsp ghee to it.
• Coat the rice with ghee very well and allow to marinate for 20 to 25 minutes. Instead of marinating, you can also saute the rice in ghee lightly.

Preparing veggies and mushrooms

• When you keep the rice for soaking, prep the ingredients. First rinse or wipe dry and then quarter the mushrooms. Take the mushroom in a mixing bowl.
• Slice thinly 2 medium onions. Chop 1 medium to large tomato. Also chop 3 to 4 green chilies, 3 to 4 medium garlic cloves and ½ inch ginger. Also chop mint and coriander leaves.

Making the ground green paste

• In a small grinder or chutney grinder, take the chopped mint leaves, coriander leaves and the chopped green chilies, garlic & ginger. 
• Add ½ tbsp water and grind to a smooth paste.

Marinating mushrooms

• Add the ground paste along with 3 tbsp curd to the chopped mushrooms.
• Add turmeric powder, red chilli powder, garam masala powder and coriander powder.
• Gently mix all the ingredients with the mushrooms. Cover and keep aside to marinate for 30 to 40 minutes.
• Take all the whole spices and keep aside.

Sautéing spices, onions, tomatoes

• Heat 2 to 2.5 tbsp oil in a thick bottomed pot or pan. Add the whole spices and fry or sauté them till they are fragrant.
• Then add the sliced onions. Stir very well and saute them on a low to medium flame. Add a pinch of salt for quick cooking of the onions.
• Stir often and saute till the onions become golden.
• Then add tomatoes. Stir and saute the tomatoes for about 2 minutes.

Cooking mushrooms

• Add the marinated mushrooms. Stir very well and saute the mushrooms for 6 to 7 minutes or till they shrink and you see oil specks on top.
• In the bowl there will be some marinade left. Add 1 cup water and mix the marinade with the water. 
• Add water as required depending on quality of rice. You can add from ½ to 1 cup water. Since I used organic basmati rice, I have added 1 cup of water.
• Add this water to the mushrooms. then add 1 cup thick coconut milk. Mix well.
• Season with salt and stir. On a medium heat bring the mixture to a boil.

Cooking mushroom biryani

• Then add the ghee coated rice. Stir well.
• Cover the pot or pan with a lid. Check once or twice when rice is cooking.
• On sim or low flame cook the biryani till the rice grains are done. 
• It took me 12 minutes for the rice to cook. Depending on the thickness and depth of pan, quality of rice and flame intensity, it can take about 10 to 12 minutes to cook the rice.
• Once the rice grains are tender, cover and allow to stand for 5 minutes before serving mushroom biryani. Then gently fluff the rice with a fork.
• Garnish with mint or coriander leaves and serve mushroom biryani with a side salad or raita.

Notes

Ingredient Notes

• Rice: This biryani tastes good with both basmati rice and seeraga samba rice. If you do not have either of these rice varieties, then make mushroom biryani with any non-sticky variety of short-grained or medium-sized rice.
• Spices: For the best flavor and taste, I would suggest to use all spices. But due to non availability, skip kapok buds, stone flower and mace. 
• Vegan options: Use vegan yogurt in place of dairy yogurt or skip the curd (yogurt) altogether. If skipping yogurt, then add 1 teaspoon lemon juice to the rice after adding water. Use a neutral oil in place of ghee. 
• Mushrooms: Cremini mushrooms and shiitake mushrooms also taste great in this recipe. You can include a combination of various varieties of edible fresh mushrooms. 

Cooking notes

• Water quantity: Depending on the quality, age of rice and the water content in coconut milk, the amount of water will vary. Usually for 1 cup of basmati rice, 2 cups of liquids work well when cooking in a pan or pot.
• Rinsing rice: Do rinse the rice grains well so that the water is clear of starch. This will help in making the cooked rice grains non-sticky. 

Alternative Cooking methods

You can easily make this dish in a stove-top pressure cooker or in the Instant Pot. Vary the quantity of water and time as required with the kind of rice you are using.

1. Instant Pot Method: For Instant pot, follow the sautéing instructions in the steel insert of your IP using the sauté function. Add 1 cup of coconut milk and ½ cup of water. Season with salt. Combine well. Seal tightly with the IP lid and position the valve to sealing position. Pressure cook on high pressure for 5 minutes. When you hear the beep sound after the pressure cooking is complete, wait for 10 minutes and then do a quick pressure release. 
2. Cooking in Stove-top Pressure Cooker: Follow the sautéing instructions in a 2 litre pressure cooker. Add 1 cup coconut milk, ¾  cup water and season with salt. Pressure cook on medium to medium-high heat for 2 to 3 whistles or 8 to 9 minutes. When the pressure falls naturally in the cooker, open the lid. Fluff and serve. 

Nutrition Info Approximate values

Nutrition Facts

Mushroom Biryani

Amount Per Serving

Calories 567 Calories from Fat 261

% Daily Value*

Fat 29g45%

Saturated Fat 17g106%

Polyunsaturated Fat 1g

Monounsaturated Fat 1g

Cholesterol 6mg2%

Sodium 580mg25%

Potassium 778mg22%

Carbohydrates 70g23%

Fiber 7g29%

Sugar 8g9%

Protein 11g22%

Vitamin A 743IU15%

Vitamin B1 (Thiamine) 1mg67%

Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin) 1mg59%

Vitamin B3 (Niacin) 4mg20%

Vitamin B6 1mg50%

Vitamin B12 1µg17%

Vitamin C 22mg27%

Vitamin D 1µg7%

Vitamin E 4mg27%

Vitamin K 11µg10%

Calcium 118mg12%

Vitamin B9 (Folate) 55µg14%

Iron 5mg28%

Magnesium 84mg21%

Phosphorus 268mg27%

Zinc 2mg13%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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