Mushroom Do Piaza ~ An Ancient North Indian dish

Mushroom Do Piaza - supposedly the royal dish hailing from the Mughal era. This dish gets its name from Mulla Do Piaza or Abul Hassan who was one of the nine gems in Akbar's court. I recall reading some of the interesting tales from high school history books. He was called as Mulla Do Piaza owing to his liking for Do Piaza series of dishes which is made from mutton and onions.

I found this beautiful recipe on Indian Relish. One of my friends from Delhi had told me about the subtle gravies like the Do Piaza combination. Do Piaza with a literal translation means 2 Onions. Most of these would have a gravy which gathers the pulp from 2 Onions, sauteed with spices and herbs of choice. I made few changes to this dish; I also wanted a subtle flavour, so toned down the spices, added less water to get a sukhi consistency and made it very mild flavoured one with less spices.

Preparation time + Cooking time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

Onions (chopped) - 2

Tomatoes (chopped) - 1

Whole Button White Mushroom (diced) - 1 pack

Cashew nuts (peeled and chopped to bits) - 1/3rd cup

Coriander powder - 1 teaspoon

Red Chili powder - 1/3rd teaspoon

Coriander leaves (chopped) - 6-7 sprig

Garlic (finely chopped) - 5-6 cloves

Turmeric powder - Just a pinch

Oil - For frying

Method:

Wash the Button Mushrooms and dice them and set aside. Blend half of the chopped mushrooms along with cashew nuts with little water and set aside. Saute garlic, tomatoes and onions in a deep dish saucepan with 2 teaspoon oil and once browned, add the ground onion-cashew paste with less or no water. Once oil starts leaving sides, add the spice powders. Add Mushrooms and adjust salt and bring to a boil. Simmer on a low flame for 10-15 minutes till completely cooked and done. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves. Serve warm with Malabari Parathas or any bread of choice.