Dhingri dolma is a delicious, mildly spiced, semi-dry curry recipe from the Awadhi cuisine featuring earthy button mushrooms and soft paneer (Indian cottage cheese) in a savory base of onions, tomatoes, herbs and a special spice – caraway seeds (shahi jeera). This dish makes for an easy and quick weekend or weeknight meal paired with roti, naan or bread.
About Dhingri Dolma
Mushrooms specifically, fresh or dried oyster mushrooms are called as “Dhingri” or “Dingri” in North India. The word Dolma or Dulma means a dish made with stuffed vegetables. While in this recipe, there is no stuffing involved. So I am not sure why the word ‘Dolma’ is used for the recipe name.
This Dhingri Dolma recipe is an amazing dish and a regular at my place. If you like mushrooms and paneer, then I am sure you will love this dish. It is also a healthy and protein rich dish.
The umami mushrooms and tender paneer are cooked in a lightly spiced onion-tomato base. The recipe is from the Awadhi cuisine and Awadhi cuisine comes from the city of Lucknow.
I had heard and seen the unique name of this recipe in the menu of many Awadhi restaurants. Little did I know then, that this recipe was made from mushrooms and paneer.
Later I read about this recipe while in my college, and came to know that this recipe is made from mushrooms and paneer. Never tried it then and even later this recipe faded from my memory.
A decade back, I again came across this recipe in Jiggs Kalra’s book “Prashad – Cooking with Indian Masters” and decided to adapt it.
It was amazingly simple, easy and quick to make and tasted great. From the time I have adapted the recipe, I have made it many times now and thus have also updated the post with better photos.
In fact the recipe is so quick, that when I have mushrooms and paneer in the refrigerator, I make this dish. I just need to pair it with roti or naan.
The recipe calls for one unique spice – Shahi Jeera also known in English as Caraway seeds. These are slightly thinner and darker than the regular cumin seeds and have a unique aroma than regular cumin seeds. They are sweeter than cumin seeds.
Shahi Jeera is quite often used in Mughlai cuisine. I also add them to Veg Biryani, Veg Pulao and in some more Mughlai recipes that I make.
In this colorful recipe, both mushrooms and paneer are sautéed with shahi jeera, onion and tomatoes together with a few more herbs and spices. You can also use tofu instead of paneer.
While I prefer to make this dish with button mushrooms, you can make it with dhingri a.k.a fresh or dried oyster mushrooms. You can also make it with king oyster mushroom or shiitake or cremini mushrooms. If using dried mushrooms, then rinse and rehydrate them in water before adding to the recipe.
Serve dhingri dolma with roti, naan, paratha or as a side with veg pulao or jeera rice. You can also serve this delectable mushroom paneer curry with bread.
How to make Dhingri Dolma
1. Firstly prep up by rinsing or wiping 200 to 250 grams of button mushrooms. Slice or chop the mushrooms. Also chop 1 medium onion and cut 1 large tomato in 1 cm cubes. Crush 1 inch ginger and 3 to 4 garlic to a paste in a mortar-pestle.
2. Crumble 250 grams of paneer and keep aside. You can also grate the paneer.
3. Melt 2 tablespoons of butter or ghee in a pan. You can also use 2 tablespoons oil instead of butter.
4. Add ½ teaspoon shahi jeera (caraway seeds) and saute till they splutter.
5. Then add 1 medium sized chopped onion (about ⅓ cup chopped onion).
6. Saute the onions stirring often till they turn light brown on a medium-low to medium heat.
7. Next add 1 teaspoon ginger-garlic paste and saute for a few seconds or till the raw aroma of the ginger garlic paste goes away.
8. Now add 1 large tomato, cut in 1 cm cubes (about ¾ cup tomato cubes).
9. Then add the spice powders – ¼ teaspoon red chili powder and ½ teaspoon black pepper or white pepper powder.
10. Stir very well and saute till the tomatoes soften on a medium-low heat.
11. Now add 200 to 250 grams sliced or chopped mushrooms.
12. Stir well.
13. Begin to sauté them on a low to medium heat, stirring occasionally on medium-low to medium heat.
14. The mushrooms would first begin to release water.
15. Sauté till all the water dries up. In the below photo, there is still some water left. So continue to sauté until there is no water in the pan.
16. A light browning of the mushrooms along the edges is also fine.
17. Now add the grated or crumbled paneer.
17. Sprinkle ¼ teaspoon garam masala powder and salt as per taste.
18. Stir and mix the paneer with the rest of the ingredients. Cook for about 30 seconds to 1 minute on a low heat
19. Switch off the heat and add 2 tablespoons of chopped coriander leaves and 1 inch ginger julienne.
20. Stir and mix.
21. Serve dhingri dolma hot or warm with Roti, Naan, Paratha, tandoori roti or chapati. You can also serve them with bread.
Few more Mushroom recipes for you!
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Dhingri Dolma
Ingredients
- 250 grams Paneer crumbled or grated
- 200 to 250 grams button mushrooms sliced or chopped
- 1 medium onion chopped or ⅓ cup chopped onion
- 1 large tomato cut in 1 cm cubes or ¾ cup tomato cubes
- 1 teaspoon ginger-garlic paste or 1 inch ginger ginger + 3 to 4 garlic cloves, crushed in mortar-pestle
- ½ teaspoon caraway seeds (shahi jeera)
- ¼ teaspoon red chili powder
- ½ teaspoon black pepper powder or white pepper powder
- 2 tablespoons Butter or ghee or oil
- 2 tablespoons chopped coriander leaves
- ¼ teaspoon Garam Masala Powder
- 1 inch ginger julienne
- salt as required
Instructions
Preparation
- Rinse or wipe dry the button mushrooms. Slice or chop the mushrooms.
- Also chop the onions and cut the tomatoes in cubes.
- Crush the ginger and garlic to a paste in a mortar-pestle.
- Grate the paneer or you can crumble it also.
Making Dhingri Dolma
- Melt butter or ghee in a pan. You can also use oil instead of butter.
- Add the caraway seeds (shahi jeera) and sauté till they splutter.
- Then add onions and saute them stirring often till they turn light brown on medium-low to medium heat.
- Next add the ginger-garlic paste and sauté for a few seconds or till the raw aroma of the ginger garlic paste goes away.
- Now add the tomatoes.
- Then add the spice powders – red chili powder and black pepper or white pepper powder.
- Stir very well and saute till the tomatoes soften on medium-low heat.
- Now add the chopped mushrooms. Stir them well and begin to saute them.
- The mushrooms would first begin to release water. Sauté on a medium-low to medium heat stirring occasionally, till the all the water dries up.
- A light browning of the mushrooms along the edges is alright.
- Now add the grated or crumbled paneer.
- Sprinkle garam masala powder and salt as required.
- Stir and mix the paneer with the rest of the ingredients. On a low heat cook for 30 seconds to 1 minute and then switch off the heat.
- Lastly add the chopped coriander leaves and ginger julienne. Mix well.
- Serve dhingri dolma hot or warm with roti, naan or chapati. You can also serve them with whole wheat bread.
Notes
- Use fresh paneer and preferably homemade paneer.
- You can also make this recipe with dhingri i.e fresh or dried oyster mushrooms. You can also use dried shiitake mushrooms or fresh cremini mushrooms. Rinse and rehydrate the dried mushrooms thoroughly in water before using in the recipe.
- For a vegan option, use tofu instead of paneer.
- For a richer variation, you can add 2 tablespoons of light cream (low-fat cream) or cooking cream after adding paneer.
- Instead of coriander leaves (cilantro) you can also add about 1 tablespoon of chopped mint leaves.
- This recipe can be scaled up easily to make a big batch.
Nutrition Info (Approximate values)
This Dhingri Dolma post from the archives (August 2010) has been republished and updated on 14 September 2021.
The pictures described the cooking extreme well. I cooked it following the recipe and it turned out very good. This is my first Awadhi cooking. I did not know anything about this cooking before. One change I made: I used kalonji whole spice as I thought Sachi Kira is that. I never used karaway seeds. Thanks for sharing it.
thank you debu. glad to know. awadhi food takes usually longer time to cook, but the results are too good and worth the effort and time spend. awadhi cuisine comes from lucknow. caraway seeds are shahi jeera. but with kalonji also the recipe will taste good.
Hi… Paneer butter masala recipe & mushroom curry very amazing dish.