A delicious recipe of pan roasted, marinated mushrooms cooked in a spicy onion tomato sauce, flavored with kasuri methi
My love for mushrooms is pretty huge! One of the easiest ingredients to cook with and so immensely versatile. These edible fungi are great stir fried, in sauces, grilled and even in curries. Moreover, they don’t even take time to cook! Honestly, I can’t think of anything fruit or vegetable that fits this bill so well. I, recently, shared my recipe of creamy Tuscan mushrooms and now this mushroom tikka masala is yet another house favorite. This is a very easy recipe of mushroom tikkas cooked in a spiced onion tomato sauce – the masala. The mushrooms are marinated in a spiced yoghurt marinade and then pan roasted. You could even grill them in the oven. Thereafter, they are cooked in the tomato sauce, that is fragrant and yummy.
We love having this mushroom curry with soft, buttered naan. However, other Indian breads like rotis and parathas too, are amazing options. Like I always say, if you are a mushroom lover, you have to try this one as well. It’s a fabulous recipe and I promise that this is going to win you over. This mushroom tikka masala is a delicious break from your regular roti-subzi routine. Not only that, but this also makes for a delicious side dish when hosting an Indian dinner party. There also a secret ingredient in my recipe that makes so much of a difference to the taste. And that is a drizzle of pickle oil over the cooked curry. You can use any pickle here, all you need is just it’s flavorsome oil.
Try my recipe out and you will thank me later. 🙂
Cleaning mushrooms
Now, one of the most crucial steps of making any mushroom recipe is cleaning the fungi. Remember that these act as sponges, so do not make the mistake of soaking them in water. What will happen when you do so is, your ‘shrooms are going to absorb a lot of water and become very soggy when cooking. So does that mean you don’t clean your mushrooms? You absolutely do, but not with water. If you have a pastry brush use that to gently remove the dirt and mud sticking to your fungi. Alternately, you can also use a slightly moist kitchen towel to wipe the grime off of them. And if the stems look dirty, just trim them slightly from the bottom. This is all the cleaning your beloved ‘shrooms need. Cleaning them this way will ensure they remain plump even when cooked. And isn’t that something we always want?
You may also like,
Herby stir fried garlic mushrooms
The tikka masala
My mushroom tikka masala recipe is not just incredible yummy, but a very convenient one too. When planning to make this one, you could prep the tikka masala sauce before hand and cook the mushrooms in it, later. The sauce can be easily made ahead of time and it also freezes well. Whereas, the mushrooms can be marinated and pan fried or grilled just ahead of making the curry. And this saves a lot of time as mushrooms don’t take long to cook. Therefore, this tikka masala recipe can work brilliantly as a weekday meal too. If you are freezing the sauce then all that you will need to do then is, roast the ‘shrooms, heat up the sauce, mix and serve.
Pro tip: You can follow the same recipe to make paneer or even tofu tikka masalas. Simply replace the mushroom in the recipe with the ingredient you want and you will your favorite tikka masala ready. Here is a quick look at how I made my mushroom tikka masala.Â
Are you planning to try my recipe? If yes, then I’d love to know your feedback. You can share your food pictures with me over on Instagram or even drop a line or two in the comments section below.
Eat hearty!
Mushroom tikka masala
Equipment
- Shallow cooking pot
Ingredients
To make the mushroom tikka
- 300 g mushrooms closed cup/button/brown
- 2 tbsp thick yoghurt preferably drained or Greek yoghurt
- 1 tbsp roasted gram flour besan
- 1 tbsp kasuri methi toasted and crushed
- 2-2 tsp garam masala
- 1 tbsp mustard oil
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tsp red chilli powder
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp chaat masala
To make the mushroom tikka masala
- 1 cup onion roughly chopped
- 2 cups tomatoes roughly chopped
- ½ inch ginger roughly chopped
- 3-4 cloves garlic
- 2-3 fresh chilis
- ¼ cup cashews
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tsp shahi jeera black cumin seeds
- 1 tbsp garam masala
- 1 tbsp red chili powder for colour
- 1 tbsp kasuri methi toasted and crushed
- 2 tbsp coriander leaves chopped
- 2 tbsp mustard oil
- salt to taste
Instructions
To make the mushroom tikka
- Mix all ingredients mentioned really well, until lump free. To cleaned mushrooms, apply this marinade and leave it aside for 5-7 minutes
- Heat the cooking pot over medium with 2 tbsp mustard oil, when hot, add the mushrooms in and cook until browned on all sides. Remove in a separate bowl and sprinkle a teaspoon or two of salt over them
To make the mushroom tikka masala
- In the same pan, over medium heat throw in the bay leaf, cumin seeds, onions, tomatoes, chilis, cashews, ginger and garlic. Add a cup of hot water, cover and cook until the onions and tomatoes are throughly cooked
- Drain, remove in a bowl to cool it down (reserve the stock as well). Once cooled, discard the bay leaf and grind rest of the ingredients to a fine, smooth paste, without adding any water
- Re-heat the same pan and add this paste, along with the kasuri methi, garam masala, salt and chili powder. Mix well and cook over medium low heat for 5-7 minutes. Use the reserved stock to thin down the curry, if needed
- Add the tikkas in the masala, stir them in gently, simmer for another 5 minutes and remove from flame. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve with buttered naan. Enjoy!
Notes
- To clean the mushrooms, use a slightly moist kitchen towel to wipe them or use a pastry brush to remove the dirt. Do not soak them in water
- Do not lower the heat when cooking the mushrooms to make the tikka, otherwise they will leave out a lot of water
- Do not add salt while marinating the mushrooms, otherwise your tikkas will become soggy
- You can use the same recipe to make paneer/chicken/tofu tikka masala as well
- 1 cup = 250 millilitres
- 1 tbsp = tablespoon
- 1 tsp - teaspoon
- g - grams
