Mushroom Theeyal

Theeyal prepared with different types of veggies and even non-veg like prawns theeyal is a typical kerala dish, were coconut and spices are roasted to a brown color and cooked along with tamarind juice. I guess i didn't roast the coconut enough to attain that typical theeyal deep brown color. None the less, theeyal was tasty when cooked with mushrooms and went so well with rice. Adding a teaspoon of cornflour in water, makes cleaning mushrooms easy. The dirty surfaces to the top quickly.

Ingredients

200 to 250 grams - Button mushrooms
10 big - Shallots, chopped
2 - Green chili, slit in center
2 to 4 big flakes - Garlic, chopped
A marble size - Tamarind

To roast & grind

1 cup - Freshly grated coconut
4 to 6 - Dry red chili
1 tbsp - Coriander seeds
1/2 tsp - Turmeric powder
6 - Black pepper corns
A pinch - Fenugreek seeds

Seasoning

1 tsp - Mustard seeds
3 to 4 sprigs - Curry leaves

Method

1 ) Cut cleaned mushrooms in halves. Add 1/2 cup water to tamarind and extract juice. Heat a pan, add little coconut oil, then add coconut, fenugreek seeds, red chili, coriander seeds, peppercorns stir and roast on low heat till it becomes golden brown in color. Then add turmeric powder and further brown the coconut to a deep brown color without burning it. Take off stove and cool. Transfer to a blender/ grinder and grind to a smooth paste adding very little water.

2 ) Heat little coconut oil in a pan, add mustard seeds,let it pop then add curry leaves ( you can do the seasoning in the last if you like and skip doing it in this step ) Then add green chili, shallots and garlic and fry for a minute. Then add mushroom and saute for a minute or two. Now add salt to taste, one cup of water and cook till the mushroom is well cooked.

3 ) Now add the ground coconut paste, wash the blender well with little water and add to the pan. Close with a lid and cook. Then add tamarind juice and bring to a boil. Adjust salt to taste. Now if you skipped seasoning, in step 2, you can finally season with mustard and curry leaves in the end.

Serve with rice and you may not need any non-veg curry for this meal.