Spicy Mushroom Curry

In olden days, we used to collect Mushrooms from open land during rainy season. Our Grandmother used to cook a very tasty and spicy Mushroom Curry which we consumed with rice.

In this instructable I will explain the method used by our grandmother to make the spicy mushroom curry with farm-grown Button Mushrooms

• 200 grams of Button Mushroom
• 100 grams of Shallots (we call it Sambar onions)
• 2 whole Garlic heads
• 2 Tomatoes
• Half a cup of coconut meat
• 2 teaspoons of Cumin seeds (1 teaspoon we will use for making masala paste)
• One teaspoon of fennel seeds
• One teaspoon of Black peppercorns
• One teaspoon of Kasa kasa (Poppy seeds used in Indian cooking)
• 3 to 4 dried Red Chillies
• Handful of Curry leaves
• 3 Tablespoons of cooking oil
• Salt to taste

• The packed mushrooms from the farm contains lot of growing media sticking to it.
• Unpack and transfer the mushrooms to a larger vessel
• Add a handful of salt with little water and twirl with hands.
• Rinse in water few times and keep aside

• The mushrooms are packed with an inch long stem with the heads
• Remove the stems from the heads and chop the heads into half an inch cubes
• We will use half of the stems to make masala paste. This will add more taste to the curry.
• Cut the stems in half and chop the top portion into pieces and add to the chopped mushroom heads
• Keep the bottom portion of the stems aside. We will use it latter to make the masala paste

• Remove dry skin from shallots and shuck garlic cloves
• Keep a handful of shallots and garlic cloves aside and chop remaining shallots and Garlic cloves into medium sized pieces
• Dice Tomatoes into pieces

• In a mixer grinder jar, add the bottom portion of mushroom stems we have kept aside
• Add dried Red chillies, Cumin seeds, fennel seeds, Black peppercorns and Poppy seeds to the jar
• Grind to make a rough paste

• Now add coconut meat to the jar
• Add the Shallots and Garlic cloves we have kept aside to the jar and grind all together
• Add little amount of water and make a fine paste

Our masala paste for the curry is ready

• Heat a frying pan over medium flame and add 3 tablespoons of cooking oil
• When the oil is heated add remaining 1 teaspoon of Cumin seeds and handful of curry leaves
• Add chopped shallots and Garlic cloves to oil and cook till golden brown
• Add diced tomatoes and saute over medium flame till tomato pieces are properly cooked and drops of oil oozes out from sides

• Add the masala paste we have prepared to the pan and mix well
• Add salt to taste and saute till the mix leaves the pan and not sticking to it

• Now we need to add about 2 cups of water to the mix. If you look at the mixer grinder jar used for making paste, you may find lot of masala sticking to it. Use part of the water to rinse the jar and add it to the frying pan
• Allow the mix to come to a boil.
• Once the mix starts boiling, add the chopped Mushroom pieces and mix well
• Cover the pan with a lid and keep it over medium flame.
• Open the lid from time to time and stir the contents with a ladle to prevent the mix sticking to the bottom.

• Once the mushroom pieces are properly cooked and the curry reaches the required consistency, put off the flame
• Transfer the spicy Mushroom Curry to a serving Bowl.

This tasty and spicy Mushroom curry can be served as a main course with Rice, Chapattis and Bread