An irregular series of recipes featuring the crops we grow on the farm.

To cultivate a rich biodiversity at our farms, we don’t just grow cotton, as that alone would soon deplete the precious earth we need to preserve. A whole range of crops are grown alongside it - each with its own job to do. There are paddy fields to grow rice; sesame for seeds and oil; legumes like toor dal and black gram and peanuts to add nitrogen to the soil; castor for oil. As we don’t use chemical pesticides, our produce is organically grown and full of goodness. 

One of our most delicious crops is our seeraga samba rice. It has a particular flavour and is rich in fibre, potassium, magnesium and zinc. We love it and wanted to share a recipe for a traditional Erode biryani with you. This is a family favourite, we are lucky enough to be able to use our farm grown rice, black gram and peanuts. If you don’t happen to be in India, you can find seeraga samba rice in specialty food stores. Or you can replace it with regular basmati, but you’ll be missing the full Oshadi flavour and goodness. 

Mushroom biryani (Kāḷāṉ biryani)

This comforting, one-pot vegetarian dish is simple to make and packed full of flavour. Authentic to Erode in Tamil Nadu, it is best served alongside yogurt or raita. 

Ingredients: 

Method:

• Rinse the rice over cold water and soak for at least 10 minutes and up to 30. 

• Place a pan over medium heat and add the oil and ghee. Once hot, add the whole spices (cardamom, cinnamon and cloves), and fry for a couple of minutes until fragrant. Then, add the onion and fry until soft and translucent, around 8-10 minutes. Turn the heat down if the onion begins to brown or catch. 

• Once the onion is completely soft, add the ginger and garlic pastes, along with the chopped tomato and ground spices (biryani masala, coriander powder, kashmiri chilli powder). Let this cook for 10 minutes. 

• Next, add the chopped mint and mushrooms to the pan. Continue cooking down the mixture and stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms have reduced in size by half, and given up all of their liquid. 

• Next, drain the soaking rice, and add to the pan, alongside the salt, yogurt and lemon juice. At this point, the entire mixture can be added to a pressure cooker, along with 400ml of water. If you don’t have a pressure cooker, add the water directly to the pan and bring to a simmer, and then cover with a lid for 15 minutes. 

• In the pressure cooker, close until the whistle blows, and then release. 

• Taste and adjust, adding more lemon juice or salt if desired. Serve hot.