Mushroom Buckwheat Pulao is a wonderful lunchbox meal for your family. This healthy version is a great way to incorporate whole grain in your everyday life, without sacrificing traditional tastes.
Mushroom = Low Carb
Mushroom is a fantastic low-carb vegetable – 1 cup of mushroom has only 16 calories and 2.3g of carbohydrate making it a great choice for diabetics.
I know many South Indians (especially vegetarians) have a textural problem with mushroom. But, considering our typical high-carb meals – Mushrooms are a great addition to our diets.
Mushrooms are used extensively in many cuisines (like Chinese, Korean, Japanese). They are also rice eaters like us. But, they eat a lot of mushroom and greens – which form much better low-carb pairings with white rice than say potatoes. (Always good to learn good aspects of other cuisines, don’t you think?)
Buckwheat =Better protein and fiber than rice
1 cup cooked white rice vs 1 cup cooked buckwheat
Higher Protein: Rice – 2.86g vs Buckwheat – 5.68g
Higher Fiber: Rice – 0.2g (very negligible), Buckwheat – 4.5g
This recipe uses roasted buckwheat, also called as Kasha. I have written the difference between raw and roasted buckwheat in the Sakkarai Pongal post. Please refer to that post for more details.
Recipe
Whole grain healthy and easy lunch box option for the family made with low carb mushrooms and high-protein buckwheat.
- 2 teaspoon ghee
- 2 cloves
- 1 cardamom
- 1 inch cinnamon stick
- 5 cloves garlic
- 1 inch piece ginger
- 1 tablespoon black pepper
- 1 cup Roasted Buckwheat (Kasha)
- 1 Packet mushroom cut into pieces (2-3 cups)
- ½ cup frozen green peas
- 2 medium onions sliced
- salt (to taste)
- 3/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning optional
- 2 cups water
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Wash the buckwheat to remove any dirt pieces. Drain and keep aside.
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Grind the garlic, ginger and black pepper with little water to a smooth paste. Set aside.
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Heat ghee in a pressure pan and add in the clove, cardamom and cinnamon stick. Add in the sliced onions and saute till the onions are nice and brown.
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Add in the ground paste and salt and fry well. Add in the Italian seasoning, mushrooms, drained buckwheat and peas.Saute for 10 minutes.
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Add 2 cups of boiling hot water. Close the pressure cooker and cook on high for 2-3 whistles.
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Let pressure settle naturally. Open cooker when it is cool, fluff the pulao and serve.
It is important to saute the buckwheat and add boiling water for fluffy, individual grains.
Step by Step Pictures
Roast whole masala items in ghee in cooker
Roast onions until they are nice and brown
Add other ingredients including paste (pic not included) and saute well.
Add boiling water to cooker.
Close lid and pressure cook.
Once cool, open, fluff and serve.
Conclusion
The taste profile for this recipe is inspired by Kanammacooks Mushroom pulao. She recommended the Italian seasoning, which is quite clever.
Typically whenever I use mushrooms, I pair it with soy sauce or dried herbs. I don’t know why, but these 2 ingredients pair rather well with mushrooms. When I saw this version of Pulao pairing Indian masala with herbs, I tried it out and was happy with the result.
If you don’t find Italian seasoning or you are reluctant to use it, no problem, use the buckwheat with whichever favorite mushroom pulao recipe you prefer. Just follow the roasting + hot water step to get separate, fluffy grains. I got this tip from this link – Buckwheat kasha with Caramelized Mushrooms and Dill, which, by the way, is another great recipe for y’all to try.
Did you try this recipe? Are you a fan of mushroom? Have you tried Buckwheat? Chime in with your thoughts/comments down below. I’m always happy to hear them!!
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