This oyster mushroom curry is my plant-based take on my dad’s famous chicken curry. Oyster mushrooms are pan-fried before swimming in a gravy of whole spices and low-and-slow aromatics. It’s not exactly like his chicken curry, but it’s wonderful in its own way!
Jump to Recipe
Maybe it’s a dad thing, but my dad’s approval isn’t easy to win when I cook. He’s a simple man who doesn’t need much for a good time: just the 3 M’s – movies, math, and Mohammed Rafi. And he’d never fake an opinion just to people please. Our personalities couldn’t be more different in many ways, but we share an enthusiasm for food.
My dad only makes a few things often, but he’s very thoughtful and intuitive when he does. Patience is not his middle name, but somehow he’s very patient as he cooks his onions to ensure a flavorful base to hold up the rest of his masterpiece. So here’s something I made. It’s inspired by the flavors of his chicken curry (he’s quite famous for it) as well as the care he gives to cooking and eating! I don’t think of us as very similar, but that may be one characteristic I did inherit.
You may be wondering what he thought, especially as an omnivore who has been skeptical of some of my past creations, but he said, I quote, “It’s good.” It wasn’t quite like this chicken curry (I mean…it is mushrooms), but he liked it, which was enough for me.
How to Make Oyster Mushroom Curry
prepare the mushrooms
It is key to use oyster mushrooms for this because of their (for lack of better word) “meatier” texture, but please feel free to use whatever you have access to! Any heftier mushroom would be a great sub, but if button mushrooms are what you have, that’s fine.
Use a napkin to clean the mushrooms and squeeze out any excess moisture. Whatever you do, do NOT wash the mushrooms. If you do, they’ll be impossible to dry and they won’t char and crisp up when they hit the pan. It doesn’t matter as much for this recipe because the mushrooms eventually sit in a gravy, but I feel like it still affects their chewiness and overall texture.
Then use a cast-iron or nonstick pan to pan fry for just a few minutes in some olive oil or vegan butter.
whole spices
So my dad usually doesn’t use much whole spices for his curries, but I felt like deviating from his recipe because of the magic of whole spices. Whole spices are fresher than ground spices, which tend to lose their potential with time. When you fry them in oil, they infuse the oil with their flavor, which then permeates through the dish. That being said, using ground spices is not a problem either!
aromatics
The onions will cook for about 10 minutes, so be patient. Add some ginger and garlic before processing into a paste. However, make sure you have a processor that is strong enough to completely break down the whole spices! Because nobody is out here trying to chow down fennel seeds mid-swallow.
If you suspect your processor doesn’t quite do the job (I can attest that Miss Preethi definitely does), then go the ground spice route or process or grind the whole spices to form the masala for the dish.
for serving
I liked this most with roti or paratha! It doesn’t have enough of a gravy for multiple people to eat with rice, but it would also taste good with rice.
Oyster Mushroom Curry
Ingredients
- 8-10 oz. oyster mushrooms
- 1.5 tbsp olive oil for frying mushrooms
- 2 tbsp avocado oil or another neutral oil
- 2 cloves
- 1 tsp coriander seeds
- ½ tsp fennel seeds
- 1 dry red chili
- 1 inch cinnamon
- 1 green cardamom
- 1 large red onion, chopped
- 2 inch ginger, minced
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 roma tomatoes, diced
- 2 cups water
- ½ tsp kosher salt + more to taste
- ½ tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp kashmiri lal mirch (kashmiri chili powder) *optional for color
- cilantro, for garnishing
Instructions
- Clean the oyster mushrooms with a napkin and squeeze any excess moisture out of them. Do not wash them, or they will lose their ability to crisp up in the pan.
- Over medium heat, add olive oil to a cast-iron (or the same saucepan you will cook the rest of the curry in, if you'd prefer to clean one less pan). Add the mushrooms, cooking them in batches if necessary (I did two batches). Cook for about 2 minutes per side, or until they are golden-brown and slightly crisp. They will simmer later in the gravy, so they do not have to be fully cooked. Set the mushrooms aside.
- In a medium sauce pan, heat the neutral oil over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the whole spices (before doing this, make sure you have a strong food processor! if not, then separately grind the whole spices). Stir for 1-2 minutes, or until the oil is sizzling and you can definitely smell the spices.
- Add the onions and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add ginger and garlic and cook for 3-4 minutes, or until the smell of raw ginger dissipates. Let the pan cool off before removing the cinnamon stick and processing its contents in a strong, small food processor. If necessary, add a splash of water to help with blending.
- To the same pan, add the onion-garlic-ginger paste. Add the tomatoes and salt, and cook until the tomatoes clump together with the paste. Add turmeric and kashmiri lal. This will take 5-7 minutes.
- Add 2 cups of water. Cover and simmer over medium-low for 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook uncovered for 5 minutes. Adjust for salt if necessary, garnish with cilantro, and serve!
For more Indian recipes, check out…
Thank you!! Just this one 🙂
all of your recipes are FANTASTIC and AMAZING…thanks for sharing! do you have any other food blogs?