Mushroom Chilli

Sunday, May 13th was Mother's Day. I prayed for my Mother's well being and good health. I also wish all the Mom's around the world good health, peace and happiness.

My Ma is the wind beneath my wings. She is the reason I began this blog, thinking of which fills me with pure, undiluted, nostalgia. She is a short, petite, fair lady who has a unique sense of humor and an inspirational way of looking at life. She likes Roses in particular. Freshly brewed filter coffee,  Paej (soupy Rosematta rice) and deep fried Pumpkin Buds (Dudya Kalo) are her favorite foods. Ma keeps giving me gyaan on the phone and I miss her a lot as she is thousand miles away from me. She tells me to use more of my heart and less of my head because she feels the world needs more compassion and kindness which is depleting nowadays. She advises me to offer hope to the less fortunate, share as much as I can and be kind with words and actions. I try to assimilate as much as I can and challenge her with few theories and beliefs which I don't accept, some which she agrees with a firm nod. So, in essence we have a unique, symbiotic, enriching friendship and a deep fulfilling bond. Best of all, she accepts me the way I am.

Ma keeps herself busy with social work, helping women and children in need, care for senior citizens, providing aid for widows in distress, community work projects, etc. In hindsight, she has brought a big difference to many people and their lives, few of them are extremely grateful to her for changing their lives. But she rarely talks about her social work and her accomplishments. For me, that's a big lesson in humility. While in India, I often take my parents out on short holidays and trips. On few special days, I cook for my parents and get their favorite movie DVD and we enjoy pop-corn, hors d'oeuvre and funny jabber with each other. My home in India has a very open, democratic culture. We are together yet are our own individual selves. Of the few dishes which I've cooked for her, she likes Mushroom Chilli a lot. Ironically, my Ma likes Indian Chinese but my Dad prefers Konkani food 24/7 and I enjoy anything cooked by Ma. She likes her food spicy, Dad also likes spicy food and I like mine super spicy, so you get the drift. In the end, we enjoy each others company a lot. Coming to the recipe - this is a simple, quick-to-cook Indian Chinese and is special to me because my Ma likes this a lot.

~ Mushroom Chilli ~

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

Baby Bella Mushrooms (cleaned, rinsed and pat dried) - 8 oz. ~ around 12 mushrooms

Spring Onions (onion bulb and greens separately chopped) - 1/2 cup and 1 tbsp  greens for garnish

Salad Oil

Green Chillies (thinly sliced) - 3

Soy Sauce (light with low sodium) - 2 tsp

Chilli Sauce (green) - 1 tsp

Pepper powder (coarsely ground) - 1/2 tsp

Garlic (finely chopped) - 3 jumbo flakes

Ginger paste - 1/2 tsp

Salt

For Garnish -

Coriander leaves (chopped) - 1 tbsp

Spring Onion Greens (chopped) - 1 tbsp

Contraption needed - Wok

Method:

1. Rinse, wash and pat dry the mushrooms. Pluck out the stem and halve them. I do this because mushrooms in US are bigger. The Indian ones are smaller in size so you can leave them whole. In a hot wok, heat salad oil and add the sliced green chillies first. Once they are part fried, add ginger paste and garlic. Saute well till they wilt. This takes around 3 minutes. Keep the flame on medium.

2. Add the chopped onions now and saute till they caramelize. Add the chopped mushroom stem, pepper powder, add soya sauce and chilli sauce. Adjust salt as required. Do not add any water.This should take about 5 minutes.

3. Add the halved mushrooms now and toss them on high heat. Mushrooms release water upon cooking and this creates a flavored sauce. Cook for about 2 minutes and stop at this stage if you are pairing the Mushroom Chilli with Noodles and need extra gravy.

4. Cook on high heat. The water released from Mushroom creates a self-saucing stock which thickens with high heat. This process  is called reduction in culinary art and it intensifies the flavor of the sauce. The stock evaporates and high heat thereby softening the mushrooms. Once the sauce is thickly coated on all the mushrooms, turn off the heat. Transfer to serving plate and garnish with coriander leaves and greens of spring onions. Serve hot or warm. Pair with Chinese Noodles or on its own.

Note - I strictly avoid MSG (Aginomoto) in my cooking, you could add it while adding salt, in which case reduce the quantity of salt added. Soya Sauce has high sodium so be careful while adding extra salt. In US, I prefer BabyBella mushrooms (baby Portobello Mushrooms). They hold their shape  and are firm for Indian-Chinese cooking. Salad oil tastes better, else use any neutral flavored cooking oil.

Couscous with Mushroom & Green Squash

Truth be told, I dislike shopping however enjoy shopping for selective items - cooking supplies , pantry items and the works. My recent love has been shopping at Whole Foods. Whole Foods is a joint spread across US selling organic ingredients which are of highest quality and locally grown. Many years back, if anyone said they prefer organic foods to regular ones, I would guffaw and smirk for the obvious reasons. However after coming to US and tasting organic supplies, one can easily reason out and judge based on the taste and quality. Their spread of pantry items, grains, lentils, spices, herbs are of the finest quality and for a foodie - sheer joy to shop around!

Pearly white Couscous grains

Recently, a visit to the library warranted a hop-skip-jump visit to Whole Foods. I have visited their stores many a times before, but had to shop and whiz out like a breeze. This time around I had a lot of time on hand and could not contain my excitement when I found the precise grain, herb or the lentil I was looking for in the longest time. Best part is you can shop by weight for grains, dry fruits and lentils, select your items from the respective food bin, this also saves me from the trouble of buying large bags of grocery supplies when all I need is a pound or a quarter of a particular grain or lentil. Of the two kinds of Couscous they sold - French and Mediterranean, I chose the latter because my husband is fond of Pasta and Middle Eastern dishes specifically. I am not a big fan of pasta, although the tiny bits of Couscous were hard to pass. I cooked them with stock and Mushroom and Green Squash which has a delicate tender flavor and added an Indian twist of spices. The meal was filling and needless to say, I would be trying Couscous more often now.

Couscous is a wonder grain and has double the amount of vitamins and has a lower fat content in comparison to rice. The look and feel of the grain is like Sago (Sabudana). Since it is a delicate grain, over seasoning is not recommended. Light seasoning and fresh vegetables, the grain comes to life. I am not sure if these are available in India, however I think they should be available in specialty grocery stores in India.

~ Couscous with Mushroom & Green Squash ~
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:
Couscous (Mediterranean) - 1 cup
Green Squash (diced) - 1/2 cup
Button Mushrooms (sliced) - 1/2 cup
Onion (chopped) - 1/2 cup
Crushed Black Pepper - 1/2 tsp
Vegetable or Chicken stock - 1 can approx. 2 cups (1: 2 - double the quantity of grain)
Salt
Olive Oil

Method:

Rinse the grains multiple times in water till clear. In a deep bottomed pan, heat a few spoons of Olive oil, saute onions till they turn translucent. Add the chopped vegetables and season with salt and crushed pepper. Separately, bring the stock to a rolling boil. Once the vegetables are par cooked, add the grains and saute to coat the vegetables and seasoning on the grain evenly. Add the boiling stock now and cover with a lid & lower the flame. The stock should be the double the amount of grain. Once cooked through open the lid and gently fork the grain. If not cooked through, add more stock and keep stirring till they are cooked and the texture is pillow soft. Serve as a main course with a side of meat or vegetable dish.

Note - Do not cook the grain with water, the flavor of couscous is enhanced with the stock one adds. Do not wash the grains a lot as the starch buildup facilitates the cooking process. Too much washing eliminates the starch thereby hindering the cooking process.

Mushroom Tikka

Mushroom Tikka ~ a very simple, forgiving and easy recipe which demands only few hours of your precious time in the kitchen. I love Tikka version of any vegetable or meat, for the simple reason that its easy to put all the ingredients together, allow to sit in the marinade and then dry roast them in the oven or plonk them all on Tava and pan-fry.

A dictionary definition of the term Tikka implies:

"Meat treated with marinade of Tikka Masala and threaded on skewers, further on dry roasted in clay oven."

My version of this recipe is very easy and simple. Meat, vegetable of choice carefully threaded on wooden skewers (dunked in water for 1/2 hour before being used in oven to prevent the skewers from catching fire). Do not want to use skewers, then still there is an option; all you have to do is line your baking tray with parchment or wax paper, spread the chunks of meat/ vegetables, bake or just pan-fry as per choice.

Preparation time: 4-6 hours (includes the sitting time for the meat/ vegetables)

Cooking time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

White Button Mushrooms - 8-12 heads

Yoghurt - 2 tablespoon

Garam Masala powder - 1 teaspoon

Red Chilli powder - 1/2 teaspoon

Ginger paste - 1 teaspoon

Garlic paste - 1 teaspoon

BBQ Tikka Masala - 1/2 teaspoon ~ I used Shan BBQ Tikka Masala

Turmeric powder - 1/4 teaspoon

Cumin powder - 1/3 teaspoon

Coriander powder - 1/3 teaspoon

Salt

Ghee/Oil

For Garnish:

Lime juice - as per taste

Coriander leaves - 3-4 strands

Method:

Wash the mushroom heads and remove the stem by 1/4 inch, clean them well and set aside. The intention here is to clip off the stem to comfortably allow the mushroom heads to sit in the tray while grilling. Mix in all the ingredients (except ghee) along with mushroom heads. Cover with a cling wrap and refrigerate for 4-6 hours (minimum time being 1 hour).

Before cooking them, thaw the heads in marinade for 1/2 at room temperature. Pan-fry with ghee slathered on sides till the Tikka's are completely cooked and done. Garnish with lime juice and coriander leaves bits sprinkled on top. Poke in a toothpick while serving for ease of handling.

Note - My version is spicy, tone down few notches of spice if you desire less spicy Tikka's.

Mushroom-Peas Chinese Fried Rice

I am a big Rice fan. Of late, I have begun eating Brown Rice or Paez/Paej. It is healthy and wholesome. I also like the combination of any Konkani/ Konkan dish with rice. I made this on a whim, came out well. It is a simple recipe, but thought would blog about it for the benefit of my readers.

I would be cooking more of Low-calorie recipes, which have loads of health benefits. For this one, I chose Olive Oil and Mushrooms. Added Peas and Onion Greens for extra taste and health.

Preparation time: 60 minutes

Ingredients:

Rice - 3 cups

Mushroom (sliced) - 3 cups

Peas - 1/2 cup

Spring Onion/ Green Onions (chopped - only the greens) - 1 bunch or 3/4th cup

Onions (diced and sliced) - 1 cup

Olive Oil - 3 tablespoon

Soya Sauce - 2 tablespoon

Salt - as per taste

Method:

Cook rice in water with 1:1 1/2 proportion. Add a spoon of oil and salt while cooking. Drain once cooked, and spread on a large plate. Separate with a fork if required. This will enable any moisture to go away and cool the rice.

Heat a stock pot, add few spoons of Olive oil, saute and add mushroom and peas. Add Soya Sauce, adjust salt.

Add the cooked rice and give a gentle shake. Do not stir too much as the rice would turm lumpy. Serve hot with any Manchurian sauce based side dish. Garnish with chopped Onions greens.

Mushroom Do Piaza ~ An Ancient North Indian dish

Mushroom Do Piaza - supposedly the royal dish hailing from the Mughal era. This dish gets its name from Mulla Do Piaza or Abul Hassan who was one of the nine gems in Akbar's court. I recall reading some of the interesting tales from high school history books. He was called as Mulla Do Piaza owing to his liking for Do Piaza series of dishes which is made from mutton and onions.

I found this beautiful recipe on Indian Relish. One of my friends from Delhi had told me about the subtle gravies like the Do Piaza combination. Do Piaza with a literal translation means 2 Onions. Most of these would have a gravy which gathers the pulp from 2 Onions, sauteed with spices and herbs of choice. I made few changes to this dish; I also wanted a subtle flavour, so toned down the spices, added less water to get a sukhi consistency and made it very mild flavoured one with less spices.

Preparation time + Cooking time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

Onions (chopped) - 2

Tomatoes (chopped) - 1

Whole Button White Mushroom (diced) - 1 pack

Cashew nuts (peeled and chopped to bits) - 1/3rd cup

Coriander powder - 1 teaspoon

Red Chili powder - 1/3rd teaspoon

Coriander leaves (chopped) - 6-7 sprig

Garlic (finely chopped) - 5-6 cloves

Turmeric powder - Just a pinch

Oil - For frying

Method:

Wash the Button Mushrooms and dice them and set aside. Blend half of the chopped mushrooms along with cashew nuts with little water and set aside. Saute garlic, tomatoes and onions in a deep dish saucepan with 2 teaspoon oil and once browned, add the ground onion-cashew paste with less or no water. Once oil starts leaving sides, add the spice powders. Add Mushrooms and adjust salt and bring to a boil. Simmer on a low flame for 10-15 minutes till completely cooked and done. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves. Serve warm with Malabari Parathas or any bread of choice.