Heat oil and fry sliced onions along with sugar and salt until it gets brown. Keep it aside
Heat oil+ghee, put in bay leaf, star arinse, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, black cardamom and fennel seeds.
When it gets heated up and aroma arises out, add onion paste.
Next goes in green chilli paste. Mix well and let it fry until it leaves out fresh smell and starts changing color.
Add tomato puree, mix well and let it fry until well blended and raw smell goes off.
Add finely chopped coriander leaves and finely chopped mint leaves.
Add broken cashews, turmeric powder, chilli powder and mix well. Let it cook until its gets shrunken and combined. Oil starts leaving.
Put in sliced mushrooms. Mix well.
Add curd, Garam masala and mix well again.
pour in required water and salt (rice:water = 1:1.5). close and cook until it comes to a rolling boil.
Add washed rice and mix well.
Squeeze lemon juice into it.
Put in fried onions and mix well. Close and cook until rice is done.
Add red color or saffron milk in between (optional)