Spicy Dum Mushroom Biryani

We all usually do dum biryani with chicken or mutton, but doing this with mushroom was really interesting when i saw this first in sanjeev kapoor's cook book and immediately tried it and turned out to be excellent..A must try ...so please try it and u ll know how good it is!!!

Ingredients

For Rice

1 cup basmati rice

3 green cardamom

1 black cardamom

a piece of mace

1 bay leaf

4 cloves

1 " stick cinnamon

salt to taste

1 tsp oil

For the Mushroom gravy

10-12 mushroom cut into quarters

1 onion finely sliced

2 green chillies roughly chopped

1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste

1 tsp biriyani masala (any which is available)

1 tsp crushed black peppercorns

1 tsp cumin powder

1/2 cup tomato puree

1 tsp red chilli powder

1 tbsp coriander powder

1 tsp garam masala powder

1/2 cup fresh yogurt

1/2 cup skimmed milk

2 tbsp finely chopped coriander leaves

8 mint leaves finely chopped

salt to taste

3 tbsp oil or ghee

For layering

few freshly chopped coriander leaves and mint leaves

few saffron mixed with 3 tbsp milk

Method

For the Rice

• Wash and soak the rice for 30 minutes, then drain it and keep it aside
• Heat sufficient water in a pan,add cloves,cinnamon, green & black cardamom,mace,bay leaf and when it starts boiling add the rice and then cook till 3/4th done and then drain it,mix it with salt and allow it to cool completely

For the Mushroom gravy

• Heat oil or ghee in a pan, add onion, green chillies,and fry till onions becomes translucent
• Add ginger-garlic paste and fry for 2-3 minutes, then add cumin powder,red chilli powder,crushed black peppercorn,biryani masala,coriander powder,garam masala powder,salt and fry for a couple of minutes
• Add tomato puree and cook till the masala leaves the oil at the edges
• Add coriander leaves,mint leaves, and fry for a minute, then add curds and mix it well and let it come to a boil, then add mushrooms, and close the lid and cook till its tender
• Add milk and let it boil till the gravy becomes thick, remove and keep aside to cool

For the layering

• Grease a nonstick deep pan ,spread the gravy evenly, then add the rice,sprinkle mint leaves, coriander leaves,and few drops of saffron milk and then again repeat the same layers till done 
• Close the lid tightly sealed with the dough and cook it on a very low heat for 15-20 minutes and then serve hot with onion raita.
• (u can even bake it at 180 C for 20 minutes)