Mushroom Chettinad
Button mushrooms in a peppery Chettinad coconut gravy. Freshly roasted fennel, black pepper, and coconut, finished when a film of oil shows.
Equipment
- Heavy-bottomed pan or kadhai Indian wok
- Spice grinder or small blender jar
Ingredients
For the Chettinad masala
- 1 tablespoon coriander seeds
- 1 teaspoon fennel seeds (sombu)
- 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 3 dried red chillies use 2 if you want it milder
- 1 inch cinnamon stick
- 3 cloves
- 2 green cardamom pods
- 1 small piece kalpasi (stone flower) optional
- 1 petal star anise not a whole star
- 1/3 cup fresh or frozen grated coconut
- 8 raw cashews
- 1/4 cup water for grinding
For the mushrooms
- 250 g button or cremini mushrooms about 9 oz, halved or quartered
- 1 tablespoon oil
- pinch salt
For the gravy
- 2 tablespoons sesame oil (gingelly) or peanut oil
- 1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
- 10 to 12 curry leaves
- 1 medium onion finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon grated ginger
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 1 to 2 green chillies slit
- 2 medium tomatoes chopped, about 1 cup
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
- 1 teaspoon Kashmiri chilli powder
- 3/4 teaspoon salt or to taste
- 3/4 cup warm water plus more as needed
To garnish
- fresh cilantro chopped
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly crushed black pepper optional
Instructions
Roast and grind the masala
- Heat a dry skillet over medium. Add coriander seeds, fennel seeds, peppercorns, cumin, dried red chillies, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, kalpasi if using, and the star anise petal. Stir 2 to 3 minutes until the fennel smells sweet and the pepper smells sharp. Do not let them blacken.
- Tip the spices onto a plate. Let them cool completely.
- Grind the cooled spices with the coconut, cashews, and 1/4 cup water to a smooth, thick paste. Scrape the jar. Add a spoon of water only if the blades stall.
Sauté the mushrooms
- Heat 1 tablespoon oil in the kadhai over medium-high. Add the mushrooms and a pinch of salt. Cook 5 to 7 minutes, stirring, until they release their water, the pan looks almost dry, and the cut edges brown. Tip them onto a plate.
Build the gravy
- In the same pan, heat 2 tablespoons sesame or peanut oil over medium. Add fennel seeds and mustard seeds. When they sputter, add the curry leaves. They should crackle.
- Add the chopped onion and a pinch of salt. Cook 6 to 8 minutes until soft and light gold.
- Add ginger, garlic, and green chillies. Cook 1 minute until the raw smell goes.
- Add the tomatoes, turmeric, Kashmiri chilli, and salt. Cook 5 to 6 minutes until the tomatoes collapse and oil collects at the edges.
- Add the ground Chettinad paste. Stir 3 to 4 minutes on medium-low until the paste darkens a shade and smells cooked, not raw-coconut.
- Add 3/4 cup warm water and stir until it loosens into a gravy that coats a spoon. Simmer 8 to 10 minutes on low, stirring often so the coconut does not catch. The curry is ready when a thin film of oil shows on top.
Finish with the mushrooms
- Add the sautéed mushrooms. Simmer 3 to 4 minutes on low so they take on gravy but stay juicy. Do not walk away.
- Taste for salt and pepper. Crush a pinch of fresh pepper on top if you want the heat to sit at the front.
- Garnish with cilantro. Serve hot.
Notes
Frozen grated coconut is fine. Do not thaw it on the counter. Add it straight to the grinder with the cooled spices.
No kalpasi: skip it. The fennel, pepper, and coconut still carry the dish.
No sesame oil: peanut oil or any neutral oil works. Ghee will taste North Indian. Keep it if that is what you have, but sesame or peanut is closer.
Milder: 2 dried red chillies in the roast, 1 green chilli in the pan, and skip the pepper garnish.
Hotter: 4 dried red chillies and a full 1/2 teaspoon crushed pepper at the end.
Home-style dry: skip the extra 3/4 cup water after the paste. Keep stirring until the masala clings. That leans toward pepper fry. Still sauté the mushrooms first.
Already vegan as written.
Jain: skip onion and garlic. Bloom a pinch of hing with the fennel and mustard, use 1 1/2 cups tomato, and grind 12 cashews plus 1/2 cup coconut so the gravy still has body.
This paste also works with cauliflower or mixed vegetables. Blanch the vegetables first. This page stays mushrooms.
Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Reheat gently with a splash of water. The mushrooms will soften on day two. Do not freeze.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!