Mushroom curry is an Indian vegetarian dish cooked with spices and tomatoes. The ingredients required for preparing the dish vary widely with the type of mushrooms varying greatly as well. The recipe can be adjusted for vegan consumption by avoiding yogurt while it may be given a meaty flavor by adding ground or minced meat to it.
Onions, ginger and garlic are usually fried before adding the mushrooms along with other vegetables like peas or potatoes. The curry contains cumin, coriander, and turmeric along with pepper or paprika powder. There are numerous variations depending on the local preferences across the world with Thailand and Indonesia having their own recipes of the curry.
Guchci curry is a specialty of the Kashmiri cuisine, prepared from morel mushrooms that flourish in the valley. The South Indian variety of the curry differs substantially from its Northern counterpart as it consists of very little gravy and is spicier in taste. It is also flavored with fennel seeds instead of black pepper corns, used more predominantly in the curry of Northern India.
The curry is usually served with hot steamed rice or Indian flat breads. The Far Eastern recipes also recommend serving it with rice noodles.
Overview of Mushroom Curry Recipes
The traditional Indian recipe for curried mushrooms involves frying sliced onions along with crushed ginger paste and a mixture of coriander, cumin and turmeric powder, in vegetable oil before adding mushrooms and peas to it. Coarsely chopped tomatoes or yogurt are added to the curry pot after the mushrooms are well coated with the spices. The entire concoction is allowed to simmer for some time until the mushrooms turn tender when it is removed from heat and served with a garnish of coriander leaves and freshly ground peppercorns. Garam masala powder as well as hot chili powder are added to enhance the spiciness of the mushroom curry.
The Western version of the curry varies slightly with butter replacing the vegetable oil, and curry powder being used instead of the conventional spices. Chicken stock or broth is occasionally added to the curry to increase its nutritive value as well.
Popular Variations of Mushroom Curry Recipes
The most popular variants of the curried mushroom include:-
Trivia
The curry scented milkcap mushroom is gathered from the wild and sold commercially by a Scotland company as an ingredient for preparing the mushroom curry.