Mushrooms weren’t something I grew up eating. It never entered my mother’s kitchen or my mother-in-laws. With my kids came a new attraction to mushrooms. Further, life in Malaysia solidified the love for mushrooms in our family. Though common white button mushroom appears more often in my kitchen, I have experimented with oyster mushrooms, Swiss browns and enoki in my kitchen. Each of these provides a unique experience for the tastebuds. In the end, it is back to the familiar few recipes that you will love on an everyday basis.
Mushrooms on our dinner table.
That huge bag of button mushroom, fresh from the market gets its first taste as mushroom pepper fry. Then a day later I decide if the rest gets transformed as pilaf, biryani or curry. Click on these highlighted links to access them. If Kadai mushroom curry is your preference, scroll further down.
Easy cremini mushroom and millet pilaf
The leftover mushrooms certainly get used up as bite-sized mushroom rolls. That sums up the quick use of button mushrooms in our house. Along with this, we love oyster mushrooms in curry.
Cleaning the mushrooms
The first step of any good recipe begins with cleaning the produce. With button mushrooms growing so close to the substrate (commercial mushrooms are grown on a special base not on soil) a bit of it tends to stick on to the mushrooms. So cleaning is absolutely necessary. Like the mini sponges they are, mushrooms, absorb water if soaked. So soaking to clean is out of the question as it makes the mushrooms slimy. The best way is to clean them individually, using a damp kitchen cloth.
However, if they really small and if you are in a hurry, you can give it a quick rinse under cold water, but do not soak.
What is Kadai mushroom curry?
Kadai mushroom curry is a variation to the Kadai masala gravy popularly made in Indian cuisine.
Kadai is a deep heavy wok we often use in Indian cooking. Since it is a heavy-bottomed cast iron one, it helps to slow down the cooking and helps thicken the sauce giving that authentic gravy flavour. The onion-tomato buna masala with special ground sauce mixes us the curry base for this recipe. The gravy is therefore spicy, rich and super easy to make. Are you ready to make this delicious khadai mushroom curry recipe?
Ingredients for the Kadai masala gravy
Other than the basic button mushrooms you need a few ingredients to make this indian curry.
The buna masala : The basic buna masala that we had made earlier forms the base of this recipe as well. this tangy onion tomato based gravy in the smooth blended consistency gives body to the curry. The quality of the buna masala you have largely influvences the final result of this Khadai mushroom curryHere is the link to making storable buna masala
The kadai masala: instead of the usual garam masala is the spicy kadai masala that makes this gravy lip-smacking delicious. The spices that make this Kadai masala are the ones you often find in any Indian pantry. Basically, it is made of coriander seeds, cardamom pods, fennel and dry red chillies. These are roasted and powdered as a spice mix to use as needed. Check the recipe card below for exact proportions.
Check the details of the step by step recipe below in the recipe card that will help you prepare this kadai mushroom curry.
Kadai mushroom curry
Equipment
- 1 frying pan
- 1 ladle
- 1 wok
- 1 Spice mill
Ingredients
For the kadai masala powder
- 4 tbsp coriander seeds
- 8 dry red chillies
- 1.5 tsp fennel seed
- 7 green cardamom
For the gravy
- 3 cups buna masala blended
- 5 cashew nuts soaked
Other ingredients
- 1 tbsp cooking oil
- 3 cups Mushroom sliced
- salt to taste
- 1 tbsp fresh ginger root julienne
- 1 tsp kasuri methi dried fenugreek leaves.
Instructions
- Soak the cashew nuts for a while and blend them into a smooth paste.
- Wash and slice the mushroom.
- In a frying pan, dry roast fennel, cardamom, dry red chillies and coriander seeds.
- Once crisp and aromatic, set it aside to cool.
- Powder this masala mix into a smooth powder.
- Into the wok, add the oil and heat it to medium heat.
- Sautee the mushrooms in the oil.
- Remove the roasted mushroom and set it aside.
- Add the buna masala and heat it up.
- Now add the kadai masala, cashew nut paste.
- Add half a cup of water and mix it well.
- Add the roasted mushrooms and boil the gravy well, till the mushrooms are cooked.
- Let the curry boil for 6-7 minutes. Rub the fenugreek leaf and add to the curry.
- Mix well and serve the curry with grains or flatbreads.
Here is a quick image summary of the curry making process
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- Kadai masala
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- mushrooms in buna masala
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- cooking the curry and finishing touches
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- kadai mushroom curry
Variations
Vegetable Kadai masala -Instead of mushrooms vegetables that can be used are bell pepper, peas, french beans, cauliflower and carrots. This is the most popular form of Kadai masala curry
Kadai paneer masala – Indian cottage cheese or paneer soaked in the delicious kadai masala gravy with pulkas is the best Indian curry experience.
What pairs well with this Mushroom curry
The curry pairs well with Indian flatbreads and gentle rice varieties well than spicy mains. Here are a few ideas you can try with this curry.
Malabar cuisine ghee rice-neichoru
Kalonji Pulao- nigella seeds spiced rice.
Bajra roti – Unleavened pearl millet bread
Peas and lemon pulao – Peela pulao.
End your meal combo with a bit of sweetness to cool the spice. Here are a couple of ideas you may want to try.
Shakarkandi ki kheer – Sweet potato kheer
Banana Sheera – Sweet Banana Pudding
Stay connected
Seema, as usual your recipe was very tasty. The proporions were appropriate for my family. We made some chappathis to have with.very tasty.
Thankyou Nimmi, so happy to hear the proportions were perfect for your family.
I LOOOOOOOVE mushrooms now, but I too didn’t eat them growing up. Thank you for all the extra reminders and tips about prepping mushrooms. I forgot about a few of those!
I am so glad I added them, I was thinking of my kids who are now getting on their own but certainly would skip steps.
I’ve recently gone gluten free so I am really excited about this healthy, flavorful dish!
The dish is certainly gluten-friendly, you can pair this with rice to make a meal.
I’ve always wanted to make mushroom curry at home, so thank you for the recipe. Also, the step by step instructions are awesome!
Mission accomplished then, whoo! Glad the step by step recipe comes in handy.
A great tasting curry recipe using mushrooms! Would love to try this for dinner this week.
Please do try and let us know. Pair this kadai mushroom curry with some naan breads or rice.
This was super tasty! Can’t wait to make again! Thank you. 🙂
Yes!! glad you love it. Did you have this mushroom curry with bread or rice?
Seema what a delicious kadai mushroom curry. Made this for dinner last night and we loved it with some naan.Love the buna masala.
Any form of mushrooms is most welcome at all my place. I loved your recipe and tried it. It turned out perfect with accurate measurement.
Thanks for sharing Seema.
Usually I make mushrooms in a jiffy style with the regular spice powders. But this weekend I was on a cooking spree. So I roasted the spices and ground them before adding to the kadai. The kadai mushroom was absolutely marvelous. Nice post.
We love mushrooms and this kadai mushroom recipe was quite a hit with my kids. The fresh spice powder added a lot of flavor to the dish. Thank you for sharing this amazing recipe.
I made this for dinner yesterday, it was so good. Everybody loved it. I will regularly make it now.
My boys love mushrooms and I have been cooking often with it these days. Loved this recipe for Kadai mushroom and they were happy to see a mushroom curry. I even packed some for lunch box. Great recipe.
I prepared this delicious Kadai mushroom curry over the weekend and paired it with paratha. My family appreciated it a lot.
My Dad absolutely loves mushrooms so you can imagine his delight when I made your Kadai Mushroom recipe – we all loved the flavours and will be making this recipe again and again
Wow look that platter! Mushroom curry looks hearty and welcoming seema! My elder fellow loves mushroom, he would dive into that bowl !
This kadai mushroom curry turned out so good. Full of flavours and delicious, we enjoyed it with parathas. I did reduce the amount of red chillis. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Will make this kadai mushroom for hubby. He is a huge fan of mushrooms
Bookmarking this recipe to try for the mushroom lovers back home- the kadai masala powder that’s made for this curry sounds delish n versatile too – to be used with other beggies
Love this recipe Seema, Mushrooms with all that masala came out really good. We enjoyed it with some roti.
I love this delicious kadhai mushroom curry. I love the tip of not soaking mushrooms. I now know where I go wrong. Thanks for the tasty curry. Making some soon.