Recipe Mushroom Curry with rice and chipatti

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

I happen to rather like mushrooms, but with my favourite recipes already uploaded I've had to look for others that take my interest and mushroom, rice and curry being amongst my favourite foods, a mushroom curry served over a bed of tasty wholegrain, brown rice ticks all the boxes. I like to serve it with chipatti which are really easy to make at home.

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp canola oil (or other plain unflavoured oil)
• 1 tsp coriander seeds
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 750g chestnut mushrooms, quartered/cut into 6s or 8s depending on size
  
• 2 tsp ground coriander
• Pinch of asafoetida
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 8-10 black peppercorns
• 4-6 black/brown cardamom pods, crushed
• 1/2 tsp garam masala
• 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
• 1 red chilli, deseeded, finely chopped
• 1/4-1/2 tsp hot chilli powder (to taste)
• 2-4 garlic cloves, crushed
• Thumb sized piece ginger, peeled and finely grated/chopped/crushed
• 2 x 400g tins chopped/crushed tomatoes
• 1 tbsp tamarind purée
• 1 tsp brown sugar
• Wholegrain brown rice to serve.

Method

1. In a large saucepan heat the oil over a medium heat.
2. Add coriander seeds and cook until an aroma starts to come off them . Add onion, mushrooms, asafoetida, ground coriander, ground cumin, black peppercorns, black cardamom, garam masala, turmeric, chilli, garlic and ginger and cook until the onion is soft and mixture is aromatic, stirring well.
3. Add the tinned tomatoes and tamarind purée and cook over a low heat for around half an hour until the tomato sauce has reduced and thickened. Take care it doesn't catch on the bottom of the pan, adding more water if needed.
4. Meanwhile cook the brown rice according to the instructions.
5. Sweeten with the sugar to taste (to take the tartness off the tamarind purée). If you don't like adding sugar (upto 1 tsp) consider using sultanas to counter the tartness off the tamarind, adding them at the same time as the tomatoes.
   
6. Serve the curry over the rice with a few leaves of chopped, fresh coriander and with a chipatti.

 

[The Late Night Gourmet]

You weren't kidding when you said you liked mushrooms: there's quite a lot of them in this recipe! Then again, the mushroom is doing the heavy lifting normally reserved for the meat in non-vegan dishes, so the 750g is understandable. I love the flavors you bring here, with cardamom, garam masala, turmeric, chili, garlic, ginger, and the highly underrated tamarind all playing together. I'd definitely make this as a large batch preparation that I can enjoy over a period of days.

Note to self: pick up a jar of asafoetida!

 

[Morning Glory]

Note to self: pick up a jar of asafoetida!

It is a little known spice (outside India) and quite fantastic.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

Note to self: pick up a jar of asafoetida!

try to get the stuff from the resin rather than the adulterated stuff which you will need to use much more of. the adulterated stuff is cut with fenugreek powder and is the more normal version of it. Given you are not in the UK there is little point in me telling you where to buy it online. I have no idea for the USA, sorry. Here in Australia I am also struggling to find the resin and have only managed to get hold of the powder which is sadly adulterate with fenugreek seed ground.

 

[The Late Night Gourmet]

try to get the stuff from the resin rather than the adulterated stuff which you will need to use much more of. the adulterated stuff is cut with fenugreek powder and is the more normal version of it. Given you are not in the UK there is little point in me telling you where to buy it online. I have no idea for the USA, sorry. Here in Australia I am also struggling to find the resin and have only managed to get hold of the powder which is sadly adulterate with fenugreek seed ground.

I happen to love fenugreek, but I also prefer to introduce it myself (leaves vs powder have different characteristics). Thanks for giving me tips on how to spot the good stuff!