Chilli Mushroom

Fried Rice with Chilli Mushroom

I love anything fried , so much that gobi manchurian features on my menu at least once a week. Though it doesn't go with good health, I excuse myself with the thought that, I will reduce my consumption as I get older :) .

I had these packet of mushrooms sitting in the fridge for more than a week. All I know to make with mushrooms is one soggy mushroom kuzhambu and that didn't appeal to me much today evening.
So I went off to google, and made up the below recipe, by combining a couple of blog posts.

Move over healthy foods.. Make way for the all fried and spicy Chilli Mushroom.

Mushrooms - how much ever you got
Oil - for deep frying

For the Mushroom Batter
All purpose flour/Maida - 3 tbsp
Corn Flour - 2 tbsp
Baking powder (optional)- 1 tbsp
Pepper powder - 1/2 tbsp
Ajinomoto (optional)- pinch
Salt - as required
Add water and bring it to dosai consistency.

For the Gravy
Onions - 1/2 of a big one - diced to cubes
Capsicum - 1
Green Chillies - 10
Ginger , Garlic - Per taste
Corriander - a few stems
Soy Sauce- 2 tbsp
Ajinomoto - a pinch
Chilli powder - 1 tbsp
Tomato ketchup - 1 tbsp


How To
Clean mushrooms and cut to desired size. I love it meaty, so I use fairly big sizes.
Boil a few quarts of water and add cleaned mushrooms to it, allowing it stay on heat for 5 mins. Make sure to take them out before they loose the crispness.
Mix the boiled mushrooms with the batter given above and deep fry in oil. Pat dry in paper napkins.

Grind corriander, ginger and garlic.
Fry green chillies, Onions, capsicum in 2 tbsp oil. Then add the paste of ginger garlic and corriander.
Once browned, add chilli powder, salt, soy sauce, ajinomoto and finally the tomato ketchup.
When they start to mix well, add the fried mushrooms and cook on medium for 2 minutes.
Garnish with corriander and server hot.

Idli podi, Idli molaga podi

I consider Idli with podi to be the south-indian version of comfort food. If you have the idly batter and podi ready, it is exactly a work of 10 mins.

Idli podi constituents
1/2 cup Urud Dhall
1/2 cup Chana Dhall
Pinch of salt & pinch of asafo deita
15-20 red chillies
1 tbsp sesame seeds
1/2 tbsp Oil
1 tbsp shredded coconut
Curry leaves -1tbsp - Optional

Fry all the ingredients in 1/2 tbsp oil. The mixture should essentially be dry.
Grind it and add more chillies/salt according to taste.

Aatu Kaal Soup, Lamb Shank Soup

I was down with the flu and remembered my childhood days when dad used to get hot and spicy aatu kaal soup from the market. Ah.. Dad is in Neyveli, no where nearby and I haven't had good mutton soup in any of the US resturants :( . My friend Uma came to my rescue and gave me her recipe. And oh..boy..was it good.. It tasted so wonderful and soothing to the throat in this cold Albuquerque weather. I kept drinking it for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Delectable Mutton Soup...Drink Away

Need
Lamb Shanks - 2 big pieces
Onion - 1 small or half big
Tomato - 1 small
Ginger,Garlic - According to taste
Cumin powder,Ground Pepper, Turmeric Powder,Chilli powder - According to taste
Corriander to garnish
Oil- 1 tbsp - Optional
How to
The hardest part is to clean the lamb shanks and cut it to desired size.
Cut the onions and tomatoes to the smallest size possible.
Cut and grind the ginger garlic to paste
Then it is all in the mix, In a pressure cooker,mix the lamb shanks, turmeric powder(1/2 tbsp), chilli powder(1/2 tbsp), salt, Onions, tomatoes, oil. Turn on the heat and allow the cooker to shout about 10 whistles.
Once the cooking is done, add cumin powder and fresh ground pepper.
Garnish with corriander leaves and serve steamy hot.