Easy mushroom pilau
A fast and filling spicy budget rice dish that’s all made in one pan. It uses standard long grain rice as that's much cheaper than basmati. A dollop of plain yoghurt and/or an Indian chutney make a nice addition if you have them. Read the recipe tips to see what extra ingredients you could use if you already have them in the cupboard.
This recipe is part of a Budget meal plan for one. In October 2023 this recipe was costed at an average of £1.09 when checking prices at four UK supermarkets. This recipe is designed to be made in conjunction with alow-cost store-cupboard.
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 onion, thinly sliced
- 150²µ/5½´Ç³ú mushrooms, thickly sliced or halved if small
- 1–1½ tsp medium curry powder, to taste
- 85g/3oz long-grain rice
- ½ vegetable or chicken stock cube, crumbled
- 50g/1¾oz frozen peas
- ground black pepper
Method
Put the oil, onion and mushrooms in a large saucepan. Season with lots of pepper and fry over a high heat for 4–5 minutes, or until the onion is softened and the mushrooms are lightly browned, stirring regularly with a wooden spoon. Sprinkle over the curry powder and cook for 1 minute more, stirring constantly.
Tip the rice into the pan and stir in the stock cube and 400ml/14fl oz water. Cover the pan with a lid and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and cook the rice at a low simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Remove the lid, stir in the peas and cook over a high heat for 2–3 minutes or until the liquid has almost all gone and the peas are hot, stirring constantly.
Recipe Tips
You can use any mushrooms for this recipe but you are likely to find that white closed-cup mushrooms are the cheapest, especially if you buy in bulk.
Feel free to add any vegetables that need using up to this dish; spinach and other greens such as shredded kale work well. Or you could add leftover cooked cauliflower, broccoli florets or carrots.
If you have any eggs that need to be used up, hard boil one to serve on top of the pilau. You could also add cooked chicken or prawns.
The cheapest long-grain rice can tend to be a bit starchier, so be prepared to add a little extra water if needed and cook until tender. As the liquid is boiled off at the end, it doesn’t matter if it looks a bit ‘soupy’ to begin with.
For a more authentic flavour, add crushed garlic and grated ginger at the same time as the curry powder. Or swap the curry powder for garam masala and add a few extra spices if you have them in the cupboard.