Growing up, the only mushrooms I ever had were the ones my Mom drained out of a can to spread on pizza. It may sound completely appetizing, but I loved it. So much so, that I would actually fish out and pieces I could find on leftover slices of the pizza. And yes, sadly, pizza was the only time my Mom opened the can of mushrooms. It wasn’t until I actually moved to Canada that I had my first taste of a real, fresh mushroom. One bite, and I was blown away. The canned stuff felt like rubber and I was instantly obsessed. Still am, to this day, mushrooms remain a favourite vegetarian option for me. Only second to the humble eggplant, of course!

When my parents were visiting during the early months of Baby Dear’s birth, my Dad had a craving for mushrooms. Like many people from Indian households back home, where mushrooms were a very rare sight at the dinner table, he wanted to know what they were like. He had often heard and read of recipes where mushrooms were cooked in a thick, almost dry masala base. He asked me to cook up a batch for him. I was more than than eager too!

It was almost too simple to put together. Like most Indian recipes, I started with a base of onions and tomatoes, slowly sauteing it till all moisture evaporated and the flavours of the various spices had a chance to deepen. Next came the mushrooms, a few more minutes of slow cooking, and voila! Dinner was ready. My Dad had waited a long while to eat mushrooms cooked this way, and his expectations were pretty high. He took a bite, looked at me, and said that I HAD to teach my Mom this recipe. My Mom’s retort - they didn’t sell mushrooms at the vegetable market she shopped at!

This is a recipe I often fall back on on days when the heart desires something meaty, rich and lip-smackingly good! I’ve made it for fancy dinner parties, used it as an extravagant side for a simple Dal-Chawal, and also as a filling for sandwiches and wraps. I chose white button mushrooms since they easily take on robust flavours and shine through. I suspect creminis and oysters would also work well, but honestly, I have yet to try them this way.

MASALA MUSHROOMS
Prep time: 10 min | Cooking time: 30 min | Serves: 4

15-20 white button mushrooms, quartered
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 medium tomatoes, finely chopped
1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
1 tbsp coriander powder
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp red chilli powder
1/2 tsp amchoor powder
1/4 tsp garam masala
1 tbsp tomato paste
3 tbsp light cooking oil
fresh coriander leaves, chopped for garnish
salt, to taste

Heat oil in a deep wok or kadhai and saute onions till they turn lightly brown. Add in ginger-garlic paste, spices and tomato paste, and fry for a minute to blend well. Add in tomatoes and cook, stirring occasionally till all moisture evaporates and becomes a thick sauce.

Throw in mushrooms and mix well with the masala. Let mushrooms cook through, until all its water dries up. Season with salt, and garnish with fresh coriander leaves.

This entry was posted on Saturday, October 22nd, 2011 at 8:53 am and is filed under Recipes: Vegan, Recipes: Vegetarian. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.