Beat the Heat

Beat the Heat

Just when I was done sulking about the rains that swept my weekend picnic plans away, out comes the Sun and makes me run to the nearest shelter!

The sweltering heat and the unwelcome humidity has led us wanting to shed skin and drown in a cold pool somewhere. but horror of horrors, neither am I an amphibian, nor am I able to grow new epidermal layers! So the only choice we have is to fight it, fight it with that we have. And what is it I have, that you ask? I’m glad you did! It’s none other than the star of every show around here. Yes dears, it’s spicy, and it’s a definite killer of the heat waves!

I really have no idea why, but just as it gets real hot outside, I begin to crave more and more heat in my food as well. They say, heat kills heat, and I’m a firm believer of that!

Making something spicy enough was the easy task. Deciding what it was that was going to take on the avatar, was the test. I picked up a batch of lovely fresh mushrooms over the weekend, and was pondering on what I could do with t. I’ve always loved mushrooms. But getting Hubby Dear to enjoy it even half as much as I do, always challenged me. We are one of those couple who go out for pizza and say, ‘mushrooms on one half, NO mushrooms on the other’! So even though I somehow accepted that Hubby Dear might not be thrilled with the idea of coming home to a plate of mushrooms for dinner, I was determined to make him beg for more!

Long story short, we can now both enjoy mushrooms over glasses of chilled water! I guess sharing a mushroom pizza would have to wait a while!

SPICY PEPPER MUSHROOMS

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Prep time: 10 min, Cooking time: 10 min | Serves: 2      

2 cups mushrooms, sliced 1 medium-sized onion, finely chopped 1 tbsp ginger, finely chopped 1 tbsp garlic, finely chopped 2-3 green chillies, finely chopped 2 tbsp green onion, chopped

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2 tbsp soy sauce 1 tsp black pepper salt, to taste 1 tbsp light cooking oil 1 tsp pur sesame oil 2 tbsp cooking oil

HEAT oils in a non-stick pan and saute chopped green chillies, ginger and garlic till fragrant. Add chopped onions and fry till lightly brown.

ADD mushrooms, and stir-fry till they begin to cook and lose moisture.

ADD salt, pepper, and soya sauce and cook for a minute.

GARNISH with chopped green onions and serve along-side fried rice or noodles.