Smokey 'shrooms | Kadhai Mushrooms

Ingredients : -

1. Mushrooms - 1.5lb/650gm - cut into fours, save the stem

2. Onions - 2, cut into fours

3. Tomatoes - 2, puree them

4. Garlic - 4 cloves, finely chopped

5. Ginger - 1 inch, finely chopped

6. Green Chilies - 4, finely chopped

7. Heavy Cream/Cream cheese/Malaai - 1/2 cup

8. Milk - 1/4 cup

9. Spices for the curry

   1. Turmeric Powder - 1tsp

   2. Kashmiri Lal Mirch Powder - 1.5 tsp

   3. Bay leaves - 2

   4. Cumin Seeds - 2 tsp

   5. Asafetida - 1tsp

10. Whole Spices

    1. Red Chili - 1

    2. Black Cardamom - 1

    3. Black Pepper Corns - 7to 8

    4. Coriander Seeds - 1 tsp

    5. Fennel Seeds - 1 tsp

Step 1 : Roast the whole spices, and then ground them, in a mixer jar or in a mortar and pestle.

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Step 2 : Now in a cast iron skillet, heat some oil, about 2 tbsp. If you don't have a cast iron skillet then any other skillet would work, one that can sustain really, really high heat. Once the skillet is heated, roast the onions.

Below are the stages of how the onions will start to look.

Take 1/4 of the roasted onions and chop it very finely. Save the rest.

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Step 3 : Take the saved mushroom stems, and roast them too, on the same skillet again on the highest flame possible.

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Step 4 : Take a separate wok, or a pot or kadhai, and add 2 tbsp. of ghee/clarified butter or normal butter would also work. All the cooking from here on will be done on low flame. Once the ghee is heated, add the bay leaves, cumin seeds, and asafetida. Followed by chopped garlic, ginger and green chilies.

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Step 5 : Once they are fried for 2-3 minutes, add the finely chopped roasted onions. Fry it a little. Followed by the pureed tomatoes. Cook this mixture for 3-4 minutes. Then add in the grounded, roasted, whole spices. Add around 3 tsp of that. Add the turmeric and Kashmiri lal mirch powder.

Then keep cooking this for several minutes, around 5-7, to make sure that the tomatoes get cooked along with the spices. Make sure you don't add the salt yet. The tomatoes, start releasing the oil on the sides, when they are cooked.

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Step 6 : Add in the mushroom. Then we need to cook this for 15 minutes on medium flame, covered with a lid. Keep stirring in between 2-3 times, to make sure, nothing burns. The mushrooms slowly start to release all the water.

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Step 7 : Take the roasted mushroom stems, put it in a blender. Add in the cream cheese or heavy cream or malai, along with little bit of milk, and blend it all together.

Once the mushroom, reaches the stage, where it is cooked, and have released all the water, then change the flame to medium and take off the lid, and let all the water dry out.

After all the water dries out, increase the flame to really high and glaze the mushrooms for 5 minutes. Keep a close eye, to make sure nothing burns. Then add in the roasted mushroom stem-cream mixture, along with salt. Mix and cook for 4-5 minutes, and then serve, with roti or paratha or rice!

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Enjoy!

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