Place the dried mushrooms in a bowl. Add the hot water and let the mushrooms steep for 30 minutes. Before using, strain out the mushrooms and chop them roughly. Reserve the stock.
In another bowl, place the yogurt. Add the spices--ground ginger, asafetida, ground cumin, ground coriander, garam masala, Kashmiri chili powder and saffron, if using. Mix and set aside.
Heat oil in a saucepan or Dutch oven. Add the cloves, cardamom and bay leaves and saute for a few seconds. Add the seitan chunks and saute them until they turn golden-brown at the edges. This will help give them a really nice texture.
Stir in the drained, chopped mushrooms and continue to saute a couple more minutes.
Add the yogurt spice mix and stir it in. Add the reserved mushroom stock. Bring the curry to a boil, add salt, then cover and simmer for 10 minutes. You should see small pools of darker liquid on top when the rogan josh and spices have been cooked.
Remove the lid and let the rogan josh simmer for five more minutes. Turn off heat and garnish with cilantro. Serve hot.