Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Creamy Vegan Mushroom curry ~ Khumb sabzi


Mushrooms are tasty, versatile, healthy and low in fat. Mushrooms contain 80 to 90 percent water and also  about 10 percent of their dry weight is made up of fiber making it an ideal food for people watching their weight. In addition mushrooms contain a great deal of potassium, a mineral that helps in lowering elevated blood pressure and also reduces the risk of stroke. Mushrooms are also a good source of selenium, riboflavin and niacin.

Northern Indian cuisine has curries that contain cream (malai) in their gravy. This is a very popular type of curry and a variety of vegetables are made with this type of gravy as their base. Since using cream is not very diet friendly, I had given up on making these type of curries for quite sometime.

On one of our long conversations when we were swapping health tips,my cousin S from Dallas told me that she substitutes cashew paste to give the gravy a creamy texture instead of cream and that it worked very well for her. 

This idea appealed to me and I tried it and loved the texture and taste that cashew gave the dish.So thanks to cousin S and her tip, here is a creamy mushroom curry that now makes regular appearances in my kitchen.

Creamy Vegan Mushroom Curry ~ Khumb ki sabzi

Click here for a printable view of this recipe

Ingredients and method to make Creamy mushroom curry

1 large onion (cut fine) (pyaaz/vengayam)
3 tomatoes blanched and chopped * see notes (tamatar/ thakkali)
4 cups button mushrooms quartered (khumb)
1 think sliver ginger (either ground or grated fine) (adrak/ inji)
1 tsp minced garlic (lehsun/ poondu)

salt to taste (namak/ uppu)

1/4 tsp turmeric (haldi/manjal podi)
1/4 tsp cumin powder (jeera / jeeragam powder)
1/4 tsp coriander powder (dhania)
1/2 tsp red chilli powder (or to taste) (lal mirch)
1/2 tsp garam masala (or to taste) (can be substituted with any other curry powder)
check out this post on how to make your own garam masala

1/4 cup cashew pieces (kaju)
2 tbsp oil
handful of cilantro for garnish (washed and cut fine) (coriander leaves/ hara dhania)

Soak the cashews in water for about 30 minutes. Grind into a smooth paste and keep aside

Heat oil in a large heavy bottomed pan and add onions to this and saute until the onions are transparent.

Add fine grated ginger and minced garlic and stir a few times.

Add chopped blanched tomatoes and saute until the tomatoes are soft and mushy

Add all the dry spice powders and saute for a few seconds.

Add the mushrooms and salt to taste,mix well and add water.

Let the mushrooms cook on a low to medium heat until done.
The copyright of this content belongs to Veginspirations.com
When the mushrooms are softened, add cashew paste and simmer for a minute. 

Add water to achieve required consistency, lower heat and simmer for a couple of minutes on low heat for the flavors to mingle.

Garnish with cut cilantro and serve hot with cumin rice, plain rice, roti  or any type of bread

Serves approximately 4

Notes

Heat water in a large pan. When water is hot, take the pan off the stove. Add tomatoes to the hot water and keep for a couple of minutes. You will see the skin on the tomatoes split slightly, remove the tomatoes from the hot water using tongs and place in another bowl with cold water in it. When tomatoes are cooler,  remove from water and peel off the skin. Chop the tomatoes and proceed with the rest of the recipe.

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35 comments :

Lisa Turner said...

This curry would certainly please a mushroom lover like myself. I like the idea of using cashews.

CurryLeaf said...

What S said is true.Adding cashew paste gives a rich and thick gravy.I too do it sometimes.I love the mushroom curry.It defly looks creamy :D

Cham said...

The curry appears like a cream of mushroom soup :)The cashew makes a big difference in taste and texture wise!

anudivya said...

This would go great with naans isn't it? Buttery naan and creamy mushroom sauce... oh yum.

Unknown said...

Mushroom curry looks very nice, I never got this richness when I porepared a different version of mushroom curry, maybe i should try ur method:)

Chandani said...

i love mushrooms, this recipe looks yummy!!

Vikis Kitchen said...

Thanks for dropping by and leaving a lovely comment.
This mushroom curry with cashews seems rich and will definitely grab the attention in a party.
Blanching of tomato is a good idea and I have seen many successful chefs doing that.

Unknown said...

Looks delectable..I make it in a slightly different way! Nice one.

Mahimaa's kitchen said...

Wow.. looks so rich Usha.. i love mushroom.. but never tried making gravies out of it.. will bookmark this recipe.

Recipeswap said...

This for sure looks very creamy.....nice recipe.

raaji said...

Hoo.. has a lot of cashews usha!!!!
Love mushrooms with cashews....

Bhawana said...

Usha, mushroom curry looks delicious dear :)

Gita Jaishankar said...

The curry looks so rich, a good variation for me from the usual musroom fry I make...

Sum Raj said...

this looks fabulous and great..

Pam said...

I love mushrooms and I am always on the lookout for new recipes. This looks fantastic.

Uma said...

though I am not a great fan of mushrooms, I can say your curry looks so delicious.

Sunshinemom said...

I made something similar too, and I am a huge fan of mushrooms! Yummy curry.

Laavanya said...

I used to do that a lot too.. adding cashew paste.. then i switched to almonds since they are healthier but now i've stopped them all since my DD is allergic to nuts.

That curry does look creamy & delish!

Jaishree Iyer said...

Wow.. looks so rich n very creamy.....nice recipe usha.

ST said...

WOW..curry looks creamy and rich and very very tasty...

Anonymous said...

hey Usha, we not only made pizza-from-scratch at the same time we also made mushroom curry together. What a co-incidence. Guess we have similar food cravings :-)

Deepthi Shankar said...

looks delicious .. very creamy

karuna said...

this looks really tasty. my husband doesn't like mushrooms but i do, ithink i shld try it this way, maybe he will like it. thanks for sharing

AnuSriram said...

That looks creamy and yummy!

Vibaas said...

Looks delicious. Your oatmeal and barely adai looks awesome too. Nice and healthy recipe

miss v said...

ooo, cashew paste? is this something you can buy?

Andhra Flavors said...

it should be tasty with cashews.

Anonymous said...

A nice alternative to cream..how did you get that pale pink colour? tomatoes?

Srikitchen said...

Join in the Sweet Event going in my blog!
http://srishkitchen.blogspot.com/2008/11/efm-event-for-month-november-with-theme.html

Anonymous said...

One thing I like about your recipes is that they are always full of spices and flavors. We love mushroom soups, and this one sounds so hearty! :)

Yasmeen said...

I'd love that creamy mushroom soup with parathas,Yum!

Adlak's tiny world said...

really creamy and delish curry. my daughter's favrt mushroom.... yummy.....

Purva Desai said...

Creamy mushrooms.....wow I love mushrooms in any form and creamy curry makes it more irresistible,,,

Ramya Vijaykumar said...

I have definitely made currys but tell me how do you get this color should be I will have to take your recipe to the word...

Unknown said...

delicious curry
new follower to your blog..
visit my blog
http://foody-buddy.blogspot.com

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