Mughlai Style Mushroom Biryani , Rice Casserole

" I was in one of those moods today - I had gotten tired of studying the whole day and was craving to eat something exotic, spicy but home-made. I had these pile of coffee table cookbooks lying around and had my eye on this recipe for quite some time but it had never materialized. Well, today was the day to try it. The recipe had called out for mushrooms and I drove to the neighborhood market to get them. Not a huge fan of mushrooms, I used to like them earlier but I don't know why - I just lost the taste for it overtime. 
Anyways it's an exciting spicy recipe, you might want to tone down the spiciness a little bit if you are spice- averse. It turned out to be a very fragrant Mughlai-esque biryani after baking, the mushrooms were such a complement to the dish.  Dig your forks !!! "

This recipe is adapted from Suvir Saran's American Masala.  

Ingredients: 

For the rice:

•  1 cup  basmati rice 
• 2 cups water ( I used pressure cooker to cook rice. If you are using a vessel use more water.)
• 2 cloves
• 3 whole black peppercorns
• 1 bay leaf 
• 1/2 inch cinnamon stick
• 2 cardamom pods /elaichi 

For the biryani: 

• 3 tbspns oil 
• 3 whole black peppercorns
• 3 cardamom pods/ elaichi /yelakki 
• 1 clove
• 1 teaspoon jeera/cumin seeds
• 8 -10 curry leaves
• 2-3 dry red chillies ( leave it out or reduce if you think it is too spicy) 
• 1 tspn turmeric 
• 1/2 teaspoon dhania/ coriander powder 
• 1 cup sliced mushrooms 
• 1.5 cup thinly sliced onion (lengthwise) 
• 1/2 tspn biryani masala 
• 1/2 cup buttermilk 
• 1/2 cup Cilantro /coriander for garnishing 
• butter for greasing casserole 

Method: 

• Cook the rice with all the spices and allow it to cool down 
• Preheat oven to 350F . 
• In a kadai /skillet, heat the oil and add the cumin , red chilli , peppercorns, elaichi, cloves and cook until the cumin is browned and the red chillies change their color. 
• Add the curry leaves and they should make a splattering sound , add the turmeric and the coriander powder.
• To this add the onions and cook until translucent. Now add the mushrooms and salt. Cook until the mushrooms shrivel into small size. If you feel that the masalas are sticking to the skillet , add a few drops of water. 
• Mix in the biryani powder and slowly add the buttermilk. Bring the mixture to a boil and cook until it is reduced to a saucy consistency. 
• Turn off the heat and add the cilantro leaves to it. 
• Mix in the cooked rice. 
• Grease a dutch oven /casserole with butter and add the rice to it. Cover the casserole with aluminium foil. If your casserole does not have a lid, wrap twice with the foil. 
• Bake for 30-40 minutes. 
• Remove from the oven and allow it to stand for 10-15 minutes before serving. You can remove the whole spices if it bothers you.
• Garnish with cilantro and serve with raita. 

          Spice Level: (On a scale of 1-5 with 5 being the most spiciest)- 3.5-4 
          Makes 3-4 servings