Mushroom Do Pyaza (Mushrooms with Onions)

Mushroom do pyaza recipe is a flavorsome, delightful dish featuring button mushrooms cooked with lightly caramelized onions, tomatoes and ground spices. Make this easy vegan, gluten-free recipe with simple everyday Indian ingredients in less than 30 minutes. Wow yourself and your family. Trust me, it is yum!

Why This Mushroom Do Pyaza Recipe Works

Mushroom do pyaza is a vegetarian/vegan version of the popular chicken do pyaza. I love these do pyaza recipes – the faintly caramelized onions add a lovely sweet taste and some body to the dish.

Moreover in mushroom do pyaza, the earthy, meaty mushrooms and the sweet, lightly caramelized onions, work in harmony. The ground spices add a beautiful light touch of savory, peppery flavors.

Before you begin to wonder, what is “do pyaza“, let me help you. This word “do pyaza” which is a Hindi word means two onions. “Do” means two or twice or double. “Pyaza” is derived from “pyaz” which means onions.

This implies that either the dish has double the quantity of onions or has the onions added twice during the various cooking stages.

In my mushroom do pyaza recipe, the onions are added twice during the cooking process. You do not any special ingredients to make this one and that is the beauty of this recipe. It is made with the everyday ingredients that we often use in our Indian cooking.

The gravy is a semi-dry light gravy and not heavy or rich. This is a simple everyday Indian food that you can happily eat.

Do pyaza recipes are popular and there are many variations through which they can be made. I have already shared Paneer do Pyaza (With Paneer) and Bhindi do Pyaza (With Okra).

How to make Mushroom do Pyaza

Prep Work

1. Peel and rinse 2 large onions (200 grams). Chop one onion and cut into one inch squares or cubes.

Measure in a measuring cup and you will need about ¾ cup onion squares. If you get a lesser portion, then cut the squares from a small part of the second onion.

2. Finely chop the remaining onion. You will need ½ cup finely chopped onions. Finely chop 2 medium to large tomatoes (150 grams).

Slice or chop 200 grams button mushrooms discarding the base portion of the stalks. Measure and you should have about 2 to 2.5 cups chopped mushrooms.

How to clean mushrooms? To clean the mushrooms, give them a quick rinse in a colander first. Take each mushroom and hold it under the running water from the tap. Gently scrub or rub the attached mud on the mushroom with your fingers and clean it thoroughly. Rinse all mushrooms this way and set them aside in a strainer.

Lightly Caramelize Onions

3. Heat 3 tablespoons oil in a kadai (wok), skillet or frying pan. Add the onions which have been cut in 1-inch squares. Use any neutral flavored oil.

4. On a medium-low or medium flame, begin to saute the onions.

5. Stirring at intervals sauté the onions.

6. Sauté until you see the edges turn golden in the onions.

7. Remove the onions with a slotted spoon and transfer on a plate.

Make Onion Tomato Masala

8. Lower the heat and in the same pan, add 1 small to medium tej patta (Indian bay leaf).

9. Next add in the ½ cup finely chopped onions.

10. Sauté until the onions turn translucent or a light golden. Then add ½ teaspoon ginger-garlic paste.

11. Mix well and sauté for some seconds until the raw aroma of ginger-garlic goes away.

12. Now add the finely chopped tomatoes. For a smoother consistency, opt to make tomato puree from the tomatoes.

13. Mix very well and sauté for a minute.

14. Add ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder, ½ teaspoon red chili powder or cayenne, ½ teaspoon coriander powder and ½ teaspoon cumin powder. Combine and mix very well.

15. Sauté this masala stirring often until the tomatoes soften and become mushy. You will see oil releasing from the sides of the masala.

Tip: If the masala ingredients start sticking to the pan, add a few splashes of water. Mix, deglaze and continue to sauté .

Make Mushroom Do Pyaza

16. Add the chopped mushrooms. Also add salt as per taste.

17. Mix very well.

18. Begin to sauté the mushrooms on a low to medium heat.

19. Initially the mushrooms would release a lot of water, but continue to cook them.

20. Continue to sauté until the water reduces and evaporates. You will see that the gravy will also thicken and the mushrooms would be cooked well.

Now add the sautéed onion cubes or squares.

21. Mix thoroughly.

22. Add ½ teaspoon garam masala powder, 3 tablespoons chopped coriander leaves and 1 to 2 green chilies (slit or sliced).

22. Mix again and switch off the heat.

Serving Suggestions

Enjoy mushroom do pyaza hot or warm with a side of Roti, Naan, Paratha, Whole Wheat Bread or dinner rolls.

Garnish with some coriander leaves while serving and if you like, drizzle some lemon juice on it. Yum!

For a smaller period of a few hours, you can pack this in a lunch box with a side of bread or roti.

Storage and Leftovers

Make sure that you store any leftover in the fridge for a day only. Store in a covered steel container or box.

While reheating, warm in a frying pan, adding a few splashes of water as the gravy will become too thick or look dried.

Expert Tips

• Mushrooms: Button mushrooms are easily available to me, so I often use these. Other options that work are fresh shiitake mushrooms, cremini mushrooms and baby portabella mushrooms.
• Onions: The recipe works well with any kind of onions that you have. While I prefer red onions, feel free to add white, yellow onions or shallots depending on what you have. But do not use scallions (spring onions).
• Tomatoes: If out of fresh tomatoes, use crushed canned tomatoes in the same proportion. For a smooth consistency, consider making fresh tomato puree from the tomatoes.
• Ground spices: While I recommend to include all the ground spices, you can opt to add spicy, pungent spices like red chilli powder/cayenne less or more according to your taste preferences. The same rule applies for the green chillies. Add less or more according to your heat tolerance and sensitivity.
• Green Chillies: In the recipe, I have used the Indian variety of green chillies that are not very spicy. If you do not get Indian green chillies, swap with half or a quarter portion of chili peppers like Anaheim or Serrano. You can also include Thai green chillies but add very less amounts of it. This recipe is not spicy and the green chillies only add a bit of heat and spiciness.
• Richer variation: To make this mushroom do pyaza rich and creamy, add 2 tablespoons of light cream (low-fat cream) or a vegan cream when the cooking is complete. You can also sauté the ingredients in butter (dairy or vegan) or ghee.
• Scaling: Double or triple this recipe easily to suit your needs.

This mushroom do pyaza recipe post from the archives was first published on November 2016. It has been updated on December 2024.