Spice Up Your Dinner With Southern Indian Curried Mushrooms

Spice up your healthy eating menu with this recipe for curried mushrooms. It packs a whallup of southern Indian flavor, and makes an excellent and exotic vegetarian main dish. It's delicious as well as being low in fat and calories.

Indian foods lend themselves to vegetarian and vegan cuisine. When you first start to cook without meat, one of the first things you'll notice is that the flavors or herbs, spices, and other seasonings shine through at least twice as potently. Since one of the defining characteristics of Indian cuisine and cooking is its heavy reliance on spices, it's an absolute natural for vegetarian and vegan cooking. Indian food also tends to rely more on casserole and stew preperation methods, rather than the Western European and North American format which typically focuses on a cut of meat, accompanied by side dishes.

There are only about 20 calories in five mushrooms. They're an excellent source of B vitamins, antioxidant minerals and potassium. They add a delightful body and texture to dishes, and readily absorb the flavors of the herbs and spices they're cooked among. You can use common white or button mushrooms for this recipe, which are very inexpensive and widely available.

Serve your curried mushrooms on a fluffy bed of white basmati rice, which is available in most supermarkets. Other varieties of rice, like plain white rice, can also be served with this dish. Having your rice prepared before you begin making the curry may help things go a little smoother when it's time to serve the meal. If you'd like to serve your curry with a flatbread like prathra or chapiti, but don't have time to make some, consider serving flour tortillas instead. Heat them for a few seconds on each side in an ungreased skillet to make them soft and pliable.

Southern Indian Curried Mushrooms

1 pound white mushrooms, thoroughly cleaned and cut into thin slices
1 large white or yellow onion, chopped
1 tomato, chopped
1/3 cup water
2 teaspoons fennel seed
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground clove
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1-2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon tumeric
1 tablespoon curry powder
1-2 teaspoons salt
5 teaspoons cooking oil

Heat the oil over medium heat in a large, lidded cooking pot. Add the chopped onions and fry until they begin to brown. Add the chopped tomato and continue to fry for an additional 7-8 minutes. Add the salt and spices, mushrooms and water and stir together well. Place the lid on the pot, reduce the heat to medium low and simmer for 10 minutes, or until the mushrooms are tender. Remove the lid and continue to simmer for an additional 5-7 minutes, or until most of the water evaporates.