Alambe Pulav / Thunder mushroom pulav

Hello dear readers! Today I am going to share one of my signature dish called ‘Alambe Pulav’ . ‘Alambe’ also called as ‘gud gud alambe’ is a seasonal mushroom found only during the starting of the monsoon season and during the first thunder.’Gud gud’ means thunder. It pops under the ground  in the hilly region.So basically this mushroom is not harvested but grown naturally in the wilds.

Peeling this mushroom is a tedious work. But we sit in groups and do the cleaning . Some use it directly but they say the skin is not good though can add few tender tiny ones. This mushroom is very expensive and once it is peeled the quantity becomes less. Also most of the times half the mushrooms wont be  fresh so we need to discard it.

I have already shared few recipes of this mushroom like chilly, Bhuthi, tawa masala etc . It is a favourite of most of the g.s.b’s though some don’t like the smell. So we can say it is the acquired taste . I had not prepared this pulav for years but last monsoon during the season my sister Shan remembered it and prepared it. So I took few shots so that I could share the recipe in the space. I follow the same recipe as Prawn pulav but I’m surprised I still didn’t share the recipe in the space. So basically this is a one pot dish.

Ingredients:

Thunder mushrooms-  2 cups, peeled and cleaned

Ginger garlic paste – 2 tsp

Onions – 2, sliced

Carrot – 1, chopped

Tomato – 2 , chopped

Garam masala powder – 1 tsp

Whole garam masala – bay leaf, cinnamon, cardamom

Haldi powder – 1.4 tsp

Cashewnuts – few

Green chilly – 3, slit

Coriander leaves – to garnish

Basmathi rice – 1 cup(wash it)

Water – 2 cups

Ghee – 2 tbsp

Method:

1. Take a pressure cooker and heat ghee.
2. Add onions and fry until translucent.
3. Add whole garam masala and saute for few seconds.
4. Add ginger garlic paste and saute for a minute.
5. Add garam masala powder and haldi powder.
6. Add mushroom and give it a mix.
7. Add carrot, tomato,green chilly,cashewnuts  and washed rice.
8. Add water and salt to taste.
9. Cook it for one whistle.
10. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves.