Pepper Mushroom Masala

Today, I am sharing a vegetarian dish,pepper mushroom masala...As in the name, pepper is the main highlight of this dish..It does not contain red chilli powder..Its a mild spicy dish...Its a tasty curry,even mushroom haters will like it...This recipe's method is different when compared with other curry...Masalas are sauted and pureed which gives gravy thick consistency...You can substitute any vegetable of your choice..You can add non veg too like chicken, beef, mutton etc...we had the combination of curry with poori ( deep fried puffed wheat flatbread)..It tastes super delicious :)...My hubby loved this curry, he cleaned his plate without a trace of it...He asked me,' From where did you got this recipe' ?...I told him, " I didn't copy anywhere, its definitely my own recipe''..He smiled and said, " But dear, it tastes delicious"..I feel happy and satisfied ...As I said in About me section earlier, I do sometimes experiment recipe taken from other sources, but I do experiment my own too which most of them turned successful and tasty..Here is one of the recipe..

     Ingredients:

• Oil - 1 tbsp
• Cardamom (  elakai ) - 2 no.s
• Cinnamon ( karuvapatta ) - 1/2 " broken into pcs
• Cloves ( grambu) - 2 to 3 no.s
• Fennel seeds ( perunjeerakam) - 1 tsp
• Coriander seeds - 1 1/4 tsp
• Sliced mushroom - 250 gm
• Large onion,sliced - 1 
• Ginger-garlic paste - 1 tbsp
• Tomato sliced - 1 small
• Shallots - 4 to 5 no.s ( optional)
• Green chillies,slit halves - 2
• Black pepper pdr - 3 tsp ( depending your spice level)
• White pepper pdr - 1 tsp
• Turmeric pdr - 1/4 tsp
• Garam masala pdr - 1/2 tsp
• Cashew nuts - 5 to 6 no.s ( soaked in hot water for 5 to 10 mins)
• Chopped coriander - 1 tbsp + 1/2 bunch for garnishing
• Salt - to taste

     Method:

• Heat 1 tbsp oil in a wide deep pan, add ingredients from 'cardamom' till 'coriander seeds' and let it crackle.

• Saute onions,shallots with salt till pink and add ginger garlic paste and saute for few sec.

• Add sliced tomato and saute well.

• Add all the spice powders from 'black pepper pdr' till' garam masala pdr' and saute till raw smell goes away and add chopped coriander and saute.

• Keep it aside to cool and add the blend the masala into puree along with cashews and soaked water ( used to soak cashews).

• Heat the same pan again, add little oil and saute the masala puree for few secs.

• Add sliced mushroom along with 1/2 to 3/4 cup of water and mix well.

• Close the lid and cook the mushroom for about 5 to 7 mins. Mushroom cooks very fast.

• Taste and add salt. Can add little pepper powder if you require more spicy. Saute well.

• Off the flame and garnish with chopped coriander leaves and slit green chillies.Close the lid to infuse the flavour. When it cools down, the gravy becomes thick.

• Serve with any of the combination like plain or ghee rice, naan , batoora, poori, chappati etc.