Jackfruit and gucchi pulao

My grandfather used to send my mother parcels of exotic ingredients from his travels. He was a real foodie and gucchi, which means dried morel mushrooms is one thing my mother loved receiving in his edible parcels. My mother is vegetarian, so ingredients like mushrooms and jackfruit – a wonderful substitute for meat that’s available in tins in most large supermarkets – are ones she cooks with often. In India, we treat jackfruit like pulled lamb. It’s beautiful in this dish.

Serves 4-6

Preparation time: 15 minutes Cooking time: about 30 minutes

100g ghee

2 bay leaves

1 cinnamon stick, broken in half 6 cloves

4 green cardamom pods, bruised

2tsp black (or normal) cumin seeds 2 onions, thinly sliced

300g basmati rice, rinsed and drained 50g dried morel or porcini mushrooms 150g tinned jackfruit (drained weight), shredded into smaller pieces

A good pinch of saffron strands (about 10), soaked in 1-2tbsp water for 10min 100ml sunflower or rapeseed oil

1 Heat the ghee in a flameproof casserole dish with a lid. Add the bay leaves, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom and cumin seeds and fry for 30sec until fragrant.

2 Add one of the sliced onions and sauté for 5min until it caramelises slightly, then add the drained rice and a good pinch of salt. Fry for a minute, then add the mushrooms, jackfruit and 400ml water.

3 When rice mixture comes to boil, reduce the heat, add saffron, cover with a lid and cook for 12-15min until rice is done and the water is absorbed. Take off heat but keep lid on to allow rice to steam through.

4 In a saucepan, heat the oil over a fairly high heat until bubbling; add remaining onion slices and fry for 5min until just golden and crisp. Remove with a slotted spoon, drain on kitchen paper and sprinkle with salt. Serve the rice with the crispy onions scattered over the top.