30 November 2011

Mushroom Pepper Fry

Growing up in India, cooking with mushrooms was very uncommon. Fortunately for us, we were a part of this mushroom cooperative and would have fresh grown mushrooms of different varieties delivered to our doorstep every other week. Their earthy flavor combined with mom's ability to make them lip smacking made them my favorite! Here's one of her recipes - Mushroom Pepper Fry. Mushrooms & Black pepper go really well together! :)




Serves 2

1 pound oyster/button/baby bella mushrooms - cleaned and chopped. Mushrooms are extremely porous and soak up water like a sponge. Because they are mostly water, never soak fresh mushrooms. Brush off any dirt or wipe them with a damp paper towel.


Onion - 1 chopped finely
Curry leaves - 1 stalk (5-6 leaves)
Ginger & Garlic paste - 1 teaspoon or use fresh minced ginger & garlic
Cumin seeds - 1 teaspoon
Coriander pwd/dhania - 2 teaspoons
Turmeric pwd/Haldi - 1/2 teaspoon
Fresh ground black pepper - 2 tablespoon (adjust to taste if you don't like your dish too peppery)
Salt - to taste
Lemon juice - 1 teaspoon
Oil - 1 tablespoon, or 1 swirl of the pan using a pourer

Heat oil in a wok, and add cumin seeds. When cumin browns, add chopped onions and curry leaves and fry until the onions are translucent/light brown(5-8 minutes). Now add ginger & garlic paste, coriander pwd and turmeric pwd and cook until the mixture doesn't smell raw anymore (about 2 minutes). Then add the mushrooms and cook uncovered for 10 minutes until they shrink and soften. Then take the wok off the stove and add salt, pepper and lemon juice.

DO NOT add any of these during the cooking process because -
- Adding salt to mushrooms causes them to let out water. This will cause your dish to become too watery
- Adding pepper during the cooking process takes away from the bite/flavor
- Lemon juice turns bitter when cooked

Serve with hot rice/roti! Enjoy!!

5 comments:

Kritika said...

Sounds yum! I love the tips about what not to do because I always assume that I can take short-cuts. Now I won't! - Kritika

Gayatri said...

This looks and sounds delicious. I have a packet of button mushrooms at home so I'm going to make this today. Thanks for the tips at the end :)

Deepthi said...

Hey Kritika & Gaya - glad you guys found it useful. I just realized I write like my gmom! When I ask her for recipe - her's don't do list is bigger than the do list! I wonder what that says about me!! hmmm...

Deepthi said...

Gaya - did you try it? How did it turn out?

Anonymous said...

I made this over Christmas and it was a Super hit!!!! Am dying to substitute with chicken or shrimp!
Mekhala.