Mushroom Curry - For Rice

Preparing Mushroom is becoming breeze for me now-a-days. One day I Prepared this Mushroom Curry for Lunch. It was done so quickly and only after tasting it, I decided to shoot pictures at the Curry to blog here. It tastes that Great. I have added Curd to this curry, which really gives a different sour taste, also the masala's incorporate with the curd very well, than the usual tamarind.

Mushroom Curry

Prep Time: 10 mins 

Cooking Time: 20 mins  
Serves: 2
Recipe Cuisine: Indian
Recipe Type: Curry

Ingredients:


Mushroom - 100 gms (washed and wiped clean Mushrooms)
Big Onion - 1 (finely chopped)
Tomato - 1 (finely chopped)
Oil - 2 tbsp's
Pattai / Cinnamon Stick - 1" inch size
Lavang / Cloves - 2
Sombu / Fennel - 1/4 tsp
Green Chilli - 1 (slitted vertically)
Ginger Garlic Paste - 1 and half tsp's
Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp
Chilly Powder / Kulambu Milagaai thool - 1 tbsp
Corriander Powder - 1 tbsp
Curd - 3 tbsp's

Method to Prepare Mushroom Curry:

First Wash the Mushrroms thoroughly. wipe them to clean and chop them.

Heat a Pan, Add & Heat Oil. add Cinnamon stick, Cloves and Sombu and fry them in medium flame. add slitted Green Chilli & Ginger Garlic Paste and fry them till the raw smell leaves.

Now add finely chopped Onion to the Pan and fry till it turns translucent. add finely chopped tomatoes and fry it along, till every ingredients in the pan mix with each other.

Add Salt, Turmeric Powder, Chilli Powder and Corriander powder to the pan and mix well with the ingredients. fry them all, till the oil leaves by sides of the pan.

Add the Chopped Mushroom and saute them along the masala's. the mushroom shrinks and leaves little water and gets cooked within 2 minutes.

After the Mushroom is cooked, add Curd to the Pan and mix well. Make Sure, the flame is set low, while adding Curd and even after adding Curd. Add a Cup of water to the Pan and mix well. check for salt and chilli powder. and let the Curry sit in low flame for about 3-4 minutes. and then remove from flame and Serve Hot with Rice.

 

This Mushroom Curry Goes well with Rice, Idli's and Dosa's. The Sourness of Curd, tastes different in this Curry and the mushooms blends well with the Masala's too.

Beetroot Poriyal

Eating Beetroot is a difficult task for me. so i never pick beets when i go for buying vegetables. But hubby brings atleast 1/2 kg of beets, when he goes to buy vegetables. most of the time i make Beetroot Kootu and this poriyal. I think i have tasted a similar sort of poriyal from Saravana Bhavan. This Poriyal has Chana Dal and Grated Coconut, which will make you eat, even if you are a beetroot hater like me.

Ingredients:

Beetroot - 2
Chana Dal - 5 tbsp's
Big Onion - 1
Grated Coconut - 2 tsp's

For Tempering:

Oil - 1 tbsp
Mustard - 1 tsp
Curry Leaves - 8
Split Urad Dal - 1 tsp
Dry Red Chilli - 2
Green Chilli - 1

Method:

1. Soak the Chana Dal in warm water for about 30 mins.

2. Peel the skin of the beetroot and chop then into small pieces.

3. Pressure Cook the Beetroot and Chana Dal for about 4 - 5 whistles.

4. Heat a Pan, add oil and heat it.

5. Add mustard seeds and let it pop and add split urad dal, curry leaves and green chilli & broken red chillis.

6. Now add the Finely Chopped Onion and fry it till it turns translucent.

7. Add Pressure Cooked Chana dal  and Beetroot to the Pan and fry them for 2 minutes in medium flame.

8. Remove the Beetroot's from the flame and add grated coconut and give a stir. transfer to the serving bowl.

Serve Hot with Rice and Ghee. My kid liked it, So Why Don't You Try for your Kid?

Granola or Muesli

In India, we have not seen or heard about Granola, but Muesli is a Popular break-fast next to Cornflakes. Sometimes, while trying some stuffs like Cornflakes and Oats for break-fast, i think, why iam giving this to my family, leaving our own idli, dosa's. am i trying to follow Western Food Culture? Certainly Not. I feel, whats wrong in eating this, when its healthy? What do you feel, should people follow their Geographical Food Culture or not?  would love to know your views over it.

My mom is the one, who introduced me Muesli, when i complained her about Constipation Problem. I dont know, how she knew about this, but taking Muesli or Granola really helps out for Constipation problem, because it has Fibre rich Oats, Nuts and Raisins in it.

Before Going into the recipe, from what i learned from Wiki, Muesli is - the raw form of Granola is Muesli. I guess Muesli has unbaked oats in it. After knowing, that Granola can be prepared at home, will anything stop me?
Recipe for 5 - 6 single servings.

Ingredients:

2 Cups of Quick Cooking Oats
1 Cup of Cornflakes (optional)
1/4 Cup of Honey
1 tbsp of Butter

6 almonds - chopped
1 tbsp Pumpkin Seeds
2 tbsp Melon seeds
2 tbsp Sunflower seeds

Black Currant - 2 tbsp's
Raisins - 2 tbsp's
Dried Cranberries - 2 tbsp's
Seedless Dates - 5 (chopped)

Method:

Mix the Oats with the Cornflakes, almonds and seeds. add Butter and Honey and mix well.

Pre-heat the Oven to 150C. Line your baking tray with a aluminium foil sheet. spread the Oats mixture over the tray.

Bake the Oats Mixture for about 10-12 minutes, till the Oats turn into Golden Colour. Take Care not to Brown them. It browns so quickly. so keep an eye over it while baking.

Cool them down after baked and mix raisins, black currant, dried cranberries and Dates to the Oats mixture and store them in an airtight Jar.

 

* Since i made these Granola in a small batch, for me, it kept well for a week long.
* It tastes Good just as it is. so its a healthy snack.
* Serve with Milk and some fruits like Banana. its so heavenly.
* I could not find Rolled Oats, so if you are using Rolled oats for this, then baking time should be increased for another 10 - 15 minutes.
* Dried Cranberreis and other seeds mentioned in the recipe can be found at Nuts and Spices stores.
* I strongly recommend Saffola Oats (newly introduced). Saffola Oats are really Good. At Present those Saffola Oats are available only at Big Bazaar and at Star Bazaar as of now.