p Box o' Spices: Mushroom and Peas Kurma

Thursday, February 15, 2007

Mushroom and Peas Kurma

Hope everyone had a great Valentine's day!! It was amazing to see the elaborate menu most of you had for V day. We just went out for a nice dinner. I like going out on special occasions. I try to research and find a good place that we have never been to. I know all the gourmet chefs out there must be thinking "How can you not cook the special meal". I get too tensed and worked up if I want to make something special and I feel you enjoy the meal better if someone else cooks it for you. So I save my experiments and adventures for regular days. Maybe next Birthday I will make a special meal and brag... sorry blog about it.

We were passing by the local farmers market and decided to get some fresh produce. Now they definitely have the best vegetables and some at unreasonably low (or so it seemed to me) prices. For example I got 1/4 kg of tiny baby potatoes for 1 rupee (If anyone has a good Dum aloo recipe please send me the link). And just the other day we were thinking we cannot get anything for one rupee these days. And right away we were proven wrong. I couldnt buy too many vegetables even though they were so good and cheap because we had to buy in large quatities. And also because I'm so used to picking the quantity I want at supermarkets that I was taking forever to decide what I wanted and how much. Guess I had become too urbanised in this aspect. They also had fresh button mushrooms (prepackaged and easy on my brain) so I picked a packet of those. They ended up being some of the tastiest mushrooms that I have ever eaten. Fresh wins over processed anytime. I guess I will have to make another trip to the Rythu bazaar, this time better prepared.



Mushroom and peas kurma

Ingredients
Button mushrooms: 200 grams - sliced to small pieces.
Peas: a handful
Onions: 2 medium. chopped fine
Tomato: 1 small
Garlic: 2-3 cloves
Cloves, Cinnamon, Jeera
Curry and coriander leaves

For masala paste:
Grated coconut: 2 tbsp
Ginger: 1/2 inch piece
Tomato: 1 small chopped
Onion: 1 small chopped
Khus Khus and saunf: 1/2 tsp each
Green chilies: 2-3
Roasted chana dal (dalia) (optional.. for thickening): 1 tbsp
Turmeric powder: a pinch

Make a paste of the above

Heat some oil and add the jeera, cloves and cinnamon. The add the chopped garlic and curry leaves. After they splutter add the onions and fry till brown. The add the chopped tomatoes. In a minute add the masala paste and salt and cook for about 5 minutes till the raw smell of onions and tomatoes subsides. Then add the mushrooms and peas and some water. Cook for about 10 minutes stirring occasionally. Add coriander leaves and serve with chapati or parathas.

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13 Comments:

At 8:19 AM, Blogger FH said...

LOL @ brag- blog!

It was on Wedneday!Arvind doesn't come home until 7.30pm and dog tired when he does.We always go out on the weekends.
Thank GOD you say Kurma too.Most say Korma or Qorma!! I always say and think Kurma!!:D Looks delicious.I made Chicken Kurma with diff recipe.Mushrooms and peas are great combo.
I am making Aloo dum in 2 weeks but you could google for the recipe,you will get many recipes.Enjoy!:))

 
At 9:26 AM, Blogger Seema Bhat said...

Wow,
Kurma looks super delicious. Love mushrooms and have never tried them in kurma. Love it gal.
Thanx
Seema

 
At 10:32 AM, Blogger Kavitha said...

Asha: It was always kurma since childhood. Maybe a southie thing. Qorma to me sounds like anglicised 'Karma'

Seema: Thanks. It actually goes very well with the mushrooms. Simpler with mushrooms and peas than regular mixed vegetables. Try it.

 
At 10:40 AM, Blogger jacob said...

lovely recipe. would love to know how you get your pictures to look so good. i love the lemon idiappam too. i'm totally with Asha on how 'kurma' is spelt:) it's one of my pet peeves. the other one is 'parantha',

 
At 2:07 AM, Blogger Kavitha said...

Hi Jacob: Thanks for the compliment. Def means much coming from an artist like you. I am still trying to take better pics. So far am just making sure there is a lot of light so that I dont have to use flash.

 
At 10:26 AM, Blogger Sia said...

did i just hear 1/4 kilo of baby potatoes for 1/-? amazing!!! u r absolutely right, canned and processed food can never be compared with fresh produce.
kurma with mushrooms and greenpeas is someting very new and i like the sound of it coz we dont have to chop too many veggies. will bookmark ur recipe n let u know when i try it:)

 
At 11:22 PM, Blogger Kavitha said...

Hi Sia
Yes it was Re.1 I was shocked too.
I just visited your blog. very nice and beautiful pictures.
Do try the kurma and let me know.

 
At 4:00 AM, Blogger sailu said...

Never tried mushroom with peas and that too as a kurma. Looks very good, SL.

Yes, nothing to beat our rythu bazaars. I love walking along the rows of vendors selling their produce and just have a feel of the fresh vegetables. You know what I mean..:)

Sailaja

 
At 10:49 AM, Blogger Kavitha said...

Thanks Sailu
And I know exactly what you mean. It's such a feel-good experience. Something that you dont get when you buy plastic wrapped vegetables at Food World.

 
At 10:36 AM, Blogger Nidhi said...

Nice recipe for peas and mushroom. I also make it a lot but, I add a lot of tomatoes in it with some cream. Will try your version next time. BTW, nice pic too!

 
At 3:17 AM, Blogger Kavitha said...

Nidhi: Hmm Mushroom/peas in a creamy gravy sounds delicious. I will try that next time

 
At 4:52 PM, Blogger I Am Gluten Free said...

I am fairly new to Indian cooking and am wondering if you can answer a few questions. How does one make the masala paste you include in this recipe for Mushroom & peas kurma? For the green chilies, can I use jalapena peppers? If not, when I go to my local Indian grocer, what do I look or ask for in particular to be sure I get the right kind of chilie? How do you roast the chana dal? I have some of them but not sure how to roast them. Thanks so much (in advance). Love your blog and love your pics!

 
At 7:49 AM, Blogger Kavitha said...

Hi Ellen
Thanks for visiting and thanks for the comments.

If you have access to an indian grocer, ask for green chilies (the spicy one). they should know which one it is. You should be able to get them in Asian stores too. If you dont, I guess you can use jalepenos, ur kurma might look more green :)
as for roasted chana dal, its available as is, also called Dalia. its just something that I add for thickening, you can skip it or add a small qty of some other thickening agent, maybe cashewnuts.

 

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