Thursday, November 29, 2007

Oyster Mushroom Curry and Kurma

This time I'm not going to write my excuses for not blogging, b'coz I know you all have become tired of it. Really, things are going so crazy around me. Also, this weather has something to do with it. I feel so lazy that all I want to do is sleep all the time. I get backlogged in my work b'coz of this and end up doing things in the last minute. Can you believe that I've been so lazy that I did not even mail my entries for 3 blog events although I posted them in my blog? Anyhow, I hope I send this one atleast.

When I saw the "Grindless Gravies" event going around in the blogsphere, I thought...Hey, That's not difficult. The regular sambar and puli kuzhambu does not involve grinding! But once I visited Sra's blog
"When my soup came alive " I understood her hard rules. For the past one week, I did not plan anything specific for the event. Just watched what I cooked and was trying not to use my grinding tools at all. But you know what, it was very hard. For some, I had to grind spices, others involved coconut milk or lentils. Finally I succeded in coming up with the Oyster Mushroom Curry. So, let's go to the recipe.

Ingredients:
Oyster Mushrooms- 1 pack
Cinnamon- 1 " stick
cloves- 2
Onion- 1 (big)
Tomato- 2 (big)
Ginger garlic paste- 1tsp
chilli powder- 3/4 th tsp
corriander powder- 1 tsp
cumin powder- 1/2 tsp
Curry masala powder- 1/2 tsp
pepper- 1/4 tsp
Turmeric- pinch
Curry leaves and corriander leaves-few
cornflour-1tsp(optional)

Procedure:
To clean the oyster mushrooms, just cut off the ends first. Then seperate the upper portion and the stalk. Cut the stalk and the top portion into small pieces. While adding it to the gravy, first add the stalks as it takes a few minutes extra to cook than the feathery top.
Heat oil in a kadai and fry cinnamon and cloves. Then add onion and ginger garlic paste.Saute until golden brown and soft. Then add the masala powders for fry for a minute. Now add tomatoes and cook until it becomes soft and pulpy. Make sure that it forms a paste like consistency.
Then add chopped mushrooms. First the stalks. Saute for 3 mins. Then add the top part of the mushrooms. Add 1 cup water and cook for 5 to 10 mins until you get a thick gravy. Cook till you get the desired consistency. You can also add a tsp of cornflour (just dissolve it in very little water) to make the gravy thick. I did not use it here for the sake of the event. But you can certainly do it to get a nice thick gravy.

The next is Oyster Mushroom Kurma. This is another flavorful dish that goes very well with dosa, rotis and ghee rice. This was the first time I was making this kurma, so I was a little unsure to use just the mushrooms alone. That's why I went ahead and put poataoes, as kurma always tastes good with potatoes. Once done, when I tasted the dish, I really felt that the mushrooms alone did a very good job in making the gravy tasty. We enjoyed the kurma so much that nothing was leftover although it was done to be packed for the next day's lunch. So, here is my recipe. I hope you enjoy it too!


Ingredients:
Oyster mushroom- 1 pack
cinnamon- 1" piece
cloves- 2
curry leaves- 1 twig
Onion- 1 (finely chopped)
ginger-garlic paste- 1tsp
green chillies- 5
Tomatoes- 2 (finely chopped)
red chilli- 1
jeera- 1tsp
saunf- 1 tsp
turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp
sambar powder- 1 1/2 tsp
garam masala- 1/4 tsp
coconut- 1/4 cup
corrinader leaves- small fistfull
water- 1 cup
salt- as required

Procedure:
Grind coconut to a smooth paste. Grind red chillies, jeera and saunf to a fine powder. Clean mushrooms by wiping off with a towel and seperate the stalks and the petals. Heat oil in a pan and fry the cinnamon and cloves. Then add onions, curry leaves, ginger garlic paste, green chillies and turmeric. Saute until golden brown. Then add tomatoes and cook till soft and mushy. Now add all the masala powders and mix well Saute for 5 mins or until the raw smell goes. Then add coconut paste and saute for 2 to3 mins. Now pour a cup of water and add required salt. Bring it to a boil. Now add the stalk portion of the mushrooms first. After 3 to 4 mins add the petals and cook it is soft and done. Garnish with corriander leaves. Goes really well with dosas.


21 comments:

remya said...

love both ur rich curries..specially kurma...like to have them wid idiyyappam /appam...i usually make mushroom dosa.. we both r not that grt fans of mushrooms..so havent tried any curries with it...nw ur tempting me to make that kurma kribha...winter is making everyone lazy ..same here...i think ur a bit ahead of me...hy try to send this kribha dear :-)))

Pravs said...

good mushroom recipes...Mushroom and potato go well. Have not made kurma with mushroom.Will try this out.

USHA said...

Hi Kribha,

You are right.This weather makes us so lazy..that i even sit whole time before system...just surfing something...finally at last minute do all my househols chores..bathing..cooking when myhubby is on that way to home:))

Both recipes looks rich and great..Gonna try some time later for sure...

Yesterday when i was surfing my hubby saw your Diwali sweets and said all sweets are just perfect as storebought one...Just thought let me convey you his appreciation.

Kumudha said...

I love mushroom dishes. The mushroom dishes look great!

Kribha said...

Hi Remya,
You should surely try the kurma version. I loved it so much. It was my first try but it turned out very good. I'm sure you will like it too. This time I'll mail my soon. :-)

Hi Pravs,
mushroom-potato combo always work well. That's why I tried it. But I felt that without the potatoes the kurma would have tasted 100/% right. The mushrooms were good & meaty that I didn't like the addition of potatoes in there. You can try it and let me know.

Hi Usha,
Thank you so much dear and also a special thanks to your hubby for those kind words.
Talk about the weather...I'm exactly like you. Taking bath,cooking, setting things alright everything happens within the 45 mins that my hubby drives home. Going crazy.

Hi Kumudha,
Thanks for dropping by and I'm glad that you liked it.

Chef Jeena said...

Hey Kribha We all can get real tired :) Great recipe for mushrooms your dish looks totally yummy. :) I love all the ingredients together such a lovley combination. :)

Rajitha said...

kriba..sorry to have missed this post..i personlly do not like mushrooms but my husband loves them..i will try this one out for him :)

Mansi said...

wow Kribha, I've never seen oyster mushrooms before! the curry looks tempting!!

indosungod said...

sure Kribha, this cold weather gets to me too. Kurma looks rich and delicious. Love mushroom kurmas.

Swati said...

Mushroom is my sons fav...Urs looks delicious.

Raks said...

Looks nice kribha..first I thought some non-veg recipe..then only i realised there's such a variety of mushroom..Never cooked mushroom b4;D

Bharathy said...

Yes me too second Usha's hubby!:)

The gravy is soo yummy kribha..will try the same with button mushrooms..
So you are a paruppu sadam lover eh(like my daughter)She demands this for 4 days a week with home made ghee..
Laughed so much reading ur comment in my place..:D
Reading chandamama and tinkle..eating paruppu boova and chocolates..what shall I call you?
Kribha kozhandai?:D

Laavanya said...

I've not cooked with oyster mushrooms so far but my friend was saying how it made a nice mushroom rice. The kurma sounds great... will keep in mind to omit the potatoes when i try that.

Seema said...

Both curry look yum!c Though i am not a great Mushroom fan - dont mind it once in a while!

Kribha said...

Hi Jeena,
Thanks dear. I'm not sure if the word 'tired' is in you dictionary at all. I'm always amazed at the way you take step-by-step pics and post it. You are just great.

Hi Rajitha,
I never had mushrooms when I was in India. After coming to US I started cooking with it and learnt to appreciate the taste. Hope you try it for you hubby. He will surely love the kurma version.

Hi Mansi,
Oyster mushrooms are available in korean markets. I started exploring them recently and liked it a lot. Hope you find them.

Hi Indo,
Thanks for your kind words. Kurma tasted great with dosa than rice. Do try it sometime.

Hi Sugarcrafts,
Thanks for dropping by. Glad you liked it.

Hi Raks,
Mushrooms are very good for your health. You should try it sometime. You will start liking it.

Hi Bharathy,
You are such a sweetheart who always encourages me with your compliments. "Kribha kozhandai"??? You too Bharathy? Everyone in my home says that and they pity my son for having such a mom. Actually, I am ashamed of it. But I unable to help myself. I fight with my son for a piece of chocolate b'coz his dad wouldn't get me one as I'm already fat.
The other day I made Kavin cry as I pulled his lollipop off his hands to have a taste. Later on I felt very very bad for it. I hope I never repeat this again.

Hi Laavanya,
Thanks dear.Mushroom rice sounds great too. If you get that recipe do post it sometime.Do try this kurma without the potatoes. You will love it.

Hi Seema,
Hope you give it a try sometime. Thanks for dropping by.

sra said...

Hi Kribha, just found this in the links to my post - I didn't get any mail from you about this - I'm doing the round up, will you send me a 75 X 75 pic for it?

Kribha said...

Hi Sra,
Actually it's my mistake. I should have emailed you my entry. I wanted to do one more dish and post it. But I never got the time after that. I'll check your blog today and if you haven't posted the round-up yet ,I'll send my pic to you. Thanks so much for your comment dear.

Soniya Sreekumar said...

Hi...

Rather than ur recipes, I gave more important to ur babies disease coz the same incidence went thru our life also.As of Kavin my son Pavan too suffered a lot due to that dangerous desease KAWASAKI in the age of 2.4.He too stopped his medication nw.Nw he is 2.7yrs.Next follow up is on May.As Kavin my son too got rid miraculously (above all blessings of GOD).For the awareness I have created a blog...do check
http://kawasakidisease.blogspot.com/
regards
Soniya

Kribha said...

Hi Soniya,
So sorry to hear that you went thru this as well. Glad to hear that your son has recovered too. Just visited your blog. You have done an excellent job. I was planning to do this but never did it. I'm so happy that you have put this site up. I'll surely link it to my post soon. Keep up the great work!

Soniya Sreekumar said...

Really happy to get ur mail.Hope ur name is Kribha.Where is ur native.I'm from kerala..R u in orkut?
Hw is ur kid Kavin nw.Hw old is he nw?Say our hai to him

Kribha said...

Hi Soniya,
Glad to hear back from you. So you are a 'malayala penkutti'.Huh? Seeing your name I thought you are a north-indian. I'm from tamilnadu (coimbatore). My name is krithika and my hubby's name is bharathi. Just joined the first 3 letters of both the names, hence it's kribha.
Yes, I do have an orkut account but I never use it. My son is almost 4 now. He is doing fine now. I'll surely pass on your 'hi' to him. :-)
How is pavan doing? When he got kawasaki disease was he in India? Did they diagonise on time? If you wish to write to me privately, please do so in my e-mail id (kribha@yahoo.com). I'd love to hear from you. Take care dear.