I first came across morels in Kashmir when my parents were stationed there. Having grown up eating a variety of wild mushrooms in Coorg, this was an entirely new and exciting find. With their deeply wrinkled and pointed caps they looked to me more like some sea sponges, or coral plucked from a reef, than any mushroom I’d  ever seen.

We were fortunate to have the most wonderful Kashmiri cook through whom I was first introduced to the marvels of Kashmiri cuisine. He cooked these gucchi, as they’re known there, into a delicately seasoned pulao, full of meaty chunks of the mushroom. He used dried morels, mutton stock, and rice seasoned with the black cumin commonly used in Kashmiri cooking. Also known as kala zeera* or shah jeera, it lends a subtle peppery, smoky quality to foods and is quite the perfect complement to mushrooms.

Morels can be a pretty expensive indulgence, even when they are in season here in Vancouver, but many varieties of excellent mushrooms are available throughout the year. And if you dry them, even the most seemingly dull mushrooms acquire exciting new depths of flavour. With the wonderful wild mushrooms the Coorg monsoon throws up, perhaps this is just the time for some mushroom pulao!

Inspired by that lovely gucchi pulao from so many years ago, here’s a simple mushroom pulao I make, using whatever mushrooms are available.

Mushroom pulao

• 2 cups basmati rice
• 500gms assorted mushrooms (anything goes!)
• 1/2 cup dried mushrooms, chopped or ground and soaked in 1 cup hot water
  or
  3 1/2 cups mutton stock
• 1 cup finely minced shallots
• 2 tbsp fresh ginger juice
• 1 –1/12  tsp black peppercorns (I like more pepper)
• 1-2 cassia leaves
• 1 1/2 tsp shah jeera*
• 3 tbsp ghee
• 1 1/2 tsps sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp salt or to taste
• 2 1/2 cups of hot water**

Wash the rice thoroughly in several changes of water. Drain and set aside.

Clean the mushrooms if necessary.Pick apart or slice into pieces about 2-3 Inches in size. If using dried mushrooms, chop or grind them coarsely and pour one cup of boiling water over them. Let steep for 20 mins.

In a deep pan, heat the ghee. Drop in the cassia leaves, followed by the peppercorns. Stir for a minute, then sprinkle on the shah jeera. Stir for half a minute more, then add the minced shallots to the pan. Sautée gently until they turn translucent, then add the sugar to the pan. Continue cooking until the shallots begin to brown a little.

Add the mushrooms to the pan, mix thoroughly and cook uncovered until they begin to release moisture. Cover and cook for 3-4 minutes. Uncover the pan and add the rice and ginger juice, along with the hot water and salt. Stir to mix. Bring the mixture to a fast simmer and keep it there for a couple of minutes.

Stir, then cover, lower the heat, and cook on very low heat for 15- 20 minutes, or until the rice has absorbed all the moisture.
Allow to cool slightly before turning out onto a platter.

* If it’s not available,  use the other “shah jeera” that looks a little like a caraway seed, but tastes like a milder cumin, or  regular cumin.

**If using dried mushroom stock