Chettinad Mushroom Masala

I visited my sister's home last december and she made a spicy craving mushroom masala. I just got the recipe and added few of my own ingredients which I usually use for chettinad gravies. This gravy comes out well. Any vegetarian/ Non-vegetarian lovers will surely love it. This goes well with chappathi/ idiyappam/ kal dosa/ briyani.

I usually don't eat much mushrooms but started cooking mushroom after my marriage as my hubby loves it. Started learning to clean and cook mushroom by seeing more videos online. Now I have so many recipes with Mushrooms and heard that fresh mushrooms will stay hard and will turn soft while cooking. This recipe seems to have more ingredients but it turns out so yummy and tasty.

Ingredients for Dry Masala:

Dry Red Chilli - 3
Coriander seeds - 5 teaspoons
Black peppercons - 1teaspoon
Cumin seeds (Jeera) -1 teaspoon
Fennel seeds (Perun Jeeragam) -1/2 teaspoon
Poppy seeds (Kasakasa) -1 teaspoon
Pottukadalai/ split roasted gram - 1 teaspoon
Cardomom -2
Cloves - 3
Cinnamon stick - 1 inch
Mace flower/ Jathipoo - 1 petal
Star Anise - 1 petal
Nutmeg/ Jathikaai - 1 pinch
Dry Coconut - 3 teaspoon



Ingredients for making paste:

Shallots/small onion - 15 nos
Ginger - 2 piece
Garlic cloves - 8 nos
Curry leaves - 8 to 10 nos
Cashewnut - 10 nos
Turmeric powder - 1/2 teaspoon



Ingredients for making gravy:

White Button Mushrooms - 10 nos
Green chilli slit - 1
Curry leaves - 6 to 8 nos
Corriander leaves - 1/4 cup chopped
Bay leaf - 1 no
Large Tomato - 1 finely chopped
Kalpasi - 2 pinch powder
Salt for taste
Oil - 3 tablespoon
Water -1 cup
Coconut milk/ Fresh cream (optional)- 1/2 cup



Steps to make Gravy:

1. Dry roast all the ingredients in table 1 and allow it to cool before you grind it.
2. Once the roasted ingredients cools off, blend in mixer to make fine powder.
3. To this powder add ingredients in table 2 (shallots, garlic, ginger, curryleaves, cashewnut and turmeric powder). Grind it in mixer and add little water to make fine paste.
4. Clean and cut the button mushrooms vertically as shown in the picture.














5. Pour oil in kadai and add bay leaf, green chilli, curry leaves and kalpasi to it.
6. To the above, add the wet grinded mixture. Mix well for 3 minutes and add mushrooms, tomato at this stage.
7. Mix well by adding 1 cup of water to it. Slower the flame. Close the kadai and cook for 6 mins.
8. Mushrroms while cooking will leave little water, so at this stage add salt.
9. In medium flame, mix the gravy until it becomes thicken. It will take all about 6-8 mins.
10. Optionally you can add cocunut milk/ Fresh cream before switching off flame.
11. Serve by adding chopped coriander to the gravy.

Yummy yummy spicy Chettinad Mushroom gravy is ready.

Tips:

1. Instead of table 1 ingredients, you can add chilli powder and garam masala powder as per taste to table 2 ingredients and grind. This is other way of preparing masala. Still taste will surely differs as fresh ingredients has its own taste.
2. Cashewnut, poppy seeds, fried gram are thickening agents.
3. Its optional to use fresh cream/ coconut milk atlast to increase richness of gravy.