Mushroom in spicy tomato gravy

Mushroom is my husband’s favourite and he would love them in any form – simple stir fried, gravies, crispy starters, soups and sauce. Though they are several varieties available in market , he prefers the white button mushrooms.  When we moved to KL, we had run across several stores selling them. Tried cooking, but taste wise ,it wasn’t quite satisfactory. So stopped buying them till i found a new store that too near to my home 🙂 . That store is totally cool – quality of products especially with fresh produce are too good and has wide selection of gourmet ingredients.

Packet of sliced button mushrooms from the store has now become compulsory in my shopping list ( after a successful taste check 🙂 ) . If u r wondering the store name , its B.I.G – Ben’s Independent Grocers at the newly opened Publika mall in Mont Kiara.  I really don’t write about any particular retail product or brand, but this store is surely an exception. Every time , when my husband tastes mushroom recipe , he would definitely ask – how only mushroom from this store tastes so good 🙂 .

Now coming to the recipe part, this one is a fusion recipe. Its more like Indian gravy but prepared in a continental way. Cook mushroom with salt and pepper and keep it aside. In the same pan with leftover mushroom sauce, add onions and fry. Add tomato puree and Indian spices for gravy and cook till it thickens. Lastly add the cooked mushroom and ur dish will be ready will 5 mins. Here we don’t do the initial tempering part as we usually do for Indian gravies. We just cook mushrooms and onions in olive oil. But taste wise, it will be similar to mushroom kadai recipe. Here is the recipe for u –

Ingredients :

1. Sliced button mushrooms – 125 gm
2. Onion – 1 large , sliced lengthwise
3. Tomato – 3 Large , chopped and pureed
4. Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp
5. Chilli powder – 1 tsp
6. Pepper powder – 1/2 to 1 tsp
7. Green chilli – 1 , sliced into half
8. Olive oil – 1 tbsp
9. Tomato sauce – 1 tbsp
10. Salt – as required

Method :

1. Heat oil in a pan and add mushroom. Sprinkle salt and pepper and cook till it leaves out water. At this stage, transfer the fried mushroom to a plate and keep it aside
2. In the same pan with the leftover mushroom sauce, add sliced onions, green chilli and cook till it becomes translucent. Once onion is done, add the tomato puree, chilli powder, turmeric powder and salt. Cook for 8-10 mins at medium heat till all raw smell leaves out . U might see the color of gravy changing from initial pale red to dark red
3. Add the tomato sauce and cook for another 2 mins. Finally add the fried mushroom and mix well. Adjust salt accordingly and cook for another 2 mins or till the gravy coats over the mushroom well. Turn off the heat and serve hot with chappati’s

Note :

1. There is no need to add water while preparing the gravy
2. U can replace olive oil with butter for a different taste
3. This gravy can also be used as sauce for baked pasta recipes
4. Gravy will be quite spicy with pepper, chilli powder and chilli. U can adjust pepper and chilli powder accordingly

Rava dosa

One of the recipe which is quite tricky to make at home is rava dosa. Starting from batter preparation to transferring dosa to plate, it needs lots of attention. U need right ratio of rava/semolina , maida/all purpose flour and rice flour to get crisp dosa. After searching around couple of sites and few trials, came up with this one which was very close to the one we have at restaurants. Not by the size 🙂  but by the taste and texture. Here is the recipe for u –

Ingredients :

1. Rava/semolina – 2 cups
2. All purpose flour – 1/2 cup
3. Rice flour – 1/2 cup
4. Water – 6 cups intially for batter preparation and another 1 cup for adjusting consistency as needed
5. Corriander leaves – 2 tbsp, finely chopped
6. Black pepper – 6
7. Ginger – 1 tsp , finely chopped
8. Green chillies – 2 , finely chopped
9. Curry leaves – 6, finely chopped
10. Salt – as required
11. Oil – as required

Method :

1. Combine all the above ingredients except for oil and allow it to rest it for 30 min to 1 hr
2. Batter tends to be very runny initially but after its sitting time , it gets thick. Dosa batter before pouring down on the pan should be of buttermilk consistency. Adjust salt and water accordingly every time before u make dosa

3.  Keep the flame at high heat and pour the batter on the hot pan. Starting  from edges of the pan, circle down to center  exactly opposite to the way we make normal dosa. Dont try to fill the gaps u see, then u would end up with thick lumps in dosa instead of being crisp

4.  Brush with oil as u would do for normal dosa and wait till the color changes to golden brown. There is no need to flip and cook on the other side , as its already thin and crispy on both sides. Dosa is now ready to be  folded and transferred to the plates. Serve hot with chutney of ur choice

Note :

1. I used non stick pan, so i got these crispy dosa even with less oil. If u use iron tawa, u need some more oil to get that crispness
2. Rava i used was extra fine. So i used it as such while preparing batter. If u feel they are bit grainy, u can soak them in water and grind it to fine consistency
3. No fermentation is required. Batter needs to have a resting time of minimum 30 mins
4. As this dosa had to be served immediately , i couldnt do justice to the photos. Hope i add better ones some time later 🙂