I have been making this mushroom biryani for nearly two decades now, and it's one of the recipes my family and friends request most often. It has a delicious, luscious mushroom curry sauce layered with long grains of aromatic basmati rice. Every bite is a feast for the senses!
Table of Contents
What is mushroom biryani?
Mushroom biryani is a meatless variation of an Indian biryani, a layered dish of rice and a spicy, often meat-based curry that's rich, sumptuous, and usually eaten for special occasions. If you have already made my vegetable biryani, this is a similar dish to make but it tastes very different because of the mushrooms, which stand in for the meat and add amazing umami and texture.
This is a beginner-friendly recipe, tailored for those who think that making a biryani seems just so darn hard. This biryani is ready from scratch in about 35 minutes. It's straightforward and requires almost no prep other than chopping an onion, slicing mushrooms and pureeing a few tomatoes. The ingredient list is simple albeit a little long, but you likely have everything in your pantry even if you cook Indian food only occasionally. The recipe is gluten-free, soy-free and can easily be made nut-free by skipping the cashews.
This is a gorgeous, utterly satisfying dish. The rice grains cook long and slender and intensely fragrant - wonderful in every spoonful with the spicy, perfectly seasoned mushroom curry sauce.
The star ingredient in this mushroom biryani recipe are the mushrooms, of course, and they do so much more than play proxy for meat. They add precious umami to the recipe and they add so much nutrition, because mushrooms are among the healthiest foods you can eat. I like using cremini mushrooms here but wild mushrooms, button mushrooms or portobello mushrooms are fine substitutes. For the basmati rice, the other star ingredient, there is no substitute. You simply cannot make a biryani with any other rice!
Love a good biryani? I have so many biryani recipes for you, including an authentic, Indian-restaurant-style vegetable biryani, dum aloo biryani, and quinoa biryani.
Recipe card
Mushroom Biryani
Ingredients
For the rice layer
- 1½ cups raw basmati rice (Soak the rice in water for 10 minutes, then drain out all water and wash the rice thoroughly in a strainer or colander).
- ½ teaspoon caraway seeds (shahi jeera. Use cumin seeds as a substitute)
- 4 green cardamom pods
- 4 cloves
- 2 bay leaves
- Salt to taste
For the mushroom biryani sauce
- 2 tablespoons avocado oil or any neutral oil
- 4 cloves
- 4 green cardamom pods
- 1-inch cinnamon stick
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 large onion (thinly sliced)
- 1 heaping tbsp ginger garlic paste (or crush together six cloves garlic and an inch-long knob of ginger)
- ¼ cup cilantro (chopped, divided)
- 2 tomatoes (pureed. Or use 1 cup canned tomato puree)
- 1 teaspoon cayenne (or paprika, which will add more color and less heat. You can use Kashmiri chilli powder if you have it)
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- 1 tablespoon ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 tablespoon garam masala (or biryani masala)
- ¼ cup raw cashews
- 12 oz cremini mushrooms (or button mushrooms, sliced.)
- 1 cup mushroom stock (or water)
- Salt to taste
- ½ cup fried onions (optional. You already have the onions you will caramelize in the recipe, but I like scattering a few fried onions on top for more yum and a nice presentation)
Instructions
Make the rice
- Place soaked rice in a saucepan. Add six cups water, ½ teaspoon caraway seeds (shahi jeera), four green cardamom pods, four cloves, two bay leaves and salt to taste. Bring to a boil over high heat, then lower heat to medium and let the rice cook, uncovered, 6-7 minutes more or until the rice grains are tender with a very slight bite. Strain the rice in a colander immediately.
Make the biryani sauce
- In a large pot or Dutch oven, heat oil over medium heat. Add two bay leaves, four cardamom pods, four cloves, and an inch-long stick of cinnamon. Saute for a minute.
- Stir in the onions, a little salt, and ½ teaspoon of caraway seeds. Stir-fry the onions until they are crispy and caramelized. Stir in the ginger garlic paste and saute for a minute.
- Add two tablespoons of cilantro and the pureed tomatoes to the pot. Mix them in.
- Add the spice powders: ground coriander, ground cumin, cayenne and turmeric. Mix well and cook the sauce, stirring frequently, until the mixture is quite dry. Stir in the cashews and mix. Add the mushrooms and mix with the sauce in the pot.
- Add a cup of mushroom stock or water to the mushrooms and bring to a boil. Simmer five minutes. Check salt and add more as needed.
Assemble the biryani
- Turn heat to low and layer the rice over the mushroom sauce.
- Sprinkle the remaining two tablespoons of cilantro and the optional fried onions over the rice. Cover with a tight lid and let the biryani steam for another five minutes. Wait 10 minutes to open the pot before serving - don't peek.
Serve
- Dig down to the bottom of the biryani with a ladle or spatula to ensure you get both layers of the biryani - the sauce and the rice - in each serving.
Notes
- Salt the water you cook the rice in, just as you would salt pasta water. The rice will soak in the flavors of the salt and the spices as it cooks.
- If sensitive to heat, make sure you know how spicy the garam masala or biryani masala you are using is. If you want less heat, skip the cayenne or add less of it.
Nutrition Information
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How to make mushroom biryani
Place soaked rice in a saucepan. Add six cups water, ½ teaspoon caraway seeds (shahi jeera), four green cardamom pods, four cloves, two bay leaves and salt to taste. Bring to a boil over high heat, then lower heat to medium and let the rice cook, uncovered, 6-7 minutes more or until the rice grains are tender with a very slight bite. Strain the rice in a colander immediately.
In a large pot or Dutch oven, heat oil over medium heat. Add two bay leaves, four cardamom pods, four cloves, and an inch-long stick of cinnamon. Saute for a minute.
Stir in the onions and ½ teaspoon of caraway seeds. Stir-fry the onions until they are crispy and caramelized.
Stir in the ginger garlic paste and saute for a minute.
Add two tablespoons of cilantro and the pureed tomatoes to the pot. Mix them in.
Add the spice powders: ground coriander, ground cumin, cayenne and turmeric. Mix well and cook the sauce, stirring frequently, until the mixture is quite dry.
Stir in the cashews and mix.
Add the mushrooms and mix with the sauce in the pot.
Add a cup of mushroom stock or water to the mushrooms and bring to a boil. Simmer five minutes. Check salt and add more as needed. Turn heat to low and layer the rice over the mushroom sauce.
Sprinkle the remaining cilantro and the optional fried onions over the rice. Cover with a tight lid and let the biryani steam for another five minutes.Wait 10 minutes to open the pot before serving - don't peek.
My top tips
- Use fresh mushrooms. Mushrooms that are beginning to brown can smell fishy and become rather slimy after cooking, ruining the biryani (you would be better off adding those to a mushroom stock). A fresh cremini mushroom should feel firm, with a rounded cap, and with no spots or dents. When you slice it, the inside should be bright white.
- Fry the onions until very crisp. Caramelizing and crisping the onions is a key flavor-building block in this biryani.
- Don't overcook the mushrooms. When mushrooms are cooked, their texture changes rapidly, going from crisp to waterlogged. They need to cook for just five minutes in the sauce, and then five more minutes after you add the rice.
- Cook the rice to an al dente texture. Biryani rice grains should be long, separate, and extremely aromatic after cooking. Soak the basmati for a few minutes, then rinse it thoroughly in a strainer, under running water. This will wash away a lot of the starch clinging to the grains. Cook the rice until it is tender, but still has a very light bite at the center. It will finish cooking after you add it to the sauce.
Mushroom biryani FAQs
You can, but you would need to cook the brown rice longer. Also, a biryani made with brown rice would not taste right. I would not recommend substituting the basmati rice with any other rice, including brown basmati rice.
You can, but you won't get the two distinctive layers of rice and sauce. If you would, however, like to use an Instant Pot, follow the instructions in my vegan Instant Pot biryani recipe.
Yes, you can make the biryani up to four days ahead of serving and store in the fridge. A biryani should be served hot or warm, so reheat on a low flame or in the oven until warmed through.
You can try picking out the spices before serving, but that would be tedious and also would require you to mix the biryani, which means you would lose those distinct layers of sauce and rice. My advice is to guide anyone who is unfamiliar with Indian cuisine to just move the spices to the side of the plate as they eat.
Serve mushroom biryani with vegan raita or kachumber, a simple onion, cucumber and tomato salad.
Store leftovers in the fridge for up to four days in an airtight container. For longer storage freeze for up to four months. Thaw and reheat in the oven or on the stovetop before serving.
Make the mushroom sauce as described and use cauliflower rice instead of basmati rice. See my cauliflower rice biryani recipe for more on how to cook the cauliflower rice.
Recipe first published on January 2013. Updated and republished on Jan. 2, 2025.
Anne says
Mushroom Biryani - Fantastic recipe. I precooked (sauted) the mushrooms to make sure they are soft. This is now one of my favorite mushroom entres. I used brown basmati rice, cooked a little longer. It was outstanding. Highly recommend.