Curry in 10 minutes…mushroom and chickpea by Yudhika Sujanani

Just a quick recipe that will have you in and out the kitchen in a flash – it’s perfect as a side dish but also for the Hindu fasting month of Purtassi!

If you are short on time, used tinned chickpeas and tomatoes to cut down on the prep….you could have this dish down in ten minutes….also waterless cookware like AMC prevent your delicious spicy curries from turning into stews…

Mushroom and chickpea curry

Ingredients:

45ml sunflower oil
5ml mustard seeds
5ml cumin seeds
1 onion, finely chopped
Salt to season
2 garlic cloves, crushed
15ml desiccated coconut
15ml red chilli powder
2 large tomatoes, skinned and chopped

5ml ground cumin
5ml ground coriander
5ml garam masala
2ml turmeric
200g button mushrooms, quartered
1 x 400g tin chickpeas, drained
100ml boiling water
30 – 45ml coconut milk, optional

Heat the sunflower oil on medium in an AMC pot.
Add the mustard seeds and saute until they begin to pop.
Add the cumin seeds and saute until they begin to sizzle.
Stir the onion and salt in.
Saute until the onion is light golden brown.
Add the garlic and then stir in the desiccated coconut until light golden.
Sprinkle the red chilli powder over the fried onion and stir for 3 – 5 seconds.
Add the chopped tomatoes and lower the heat.
Add the cumin, coriander, garam masala and turmeric.
Simmer for a minute, then add the mushrooms.
Gently stir the mushrooms until they are coated in the spices.
Simmer until the mushrooms are almost cooked through.
Add the chickpeas and boiling water.
Simmer until the sauce thickens.
Add coconut milk and stir, then garnish with curry leaves and chopped coriander.

Yudhika’s tips:
Lentils can be used instead of chickpeas.
Use coconut milk to replace the cream in this recipe.
Desiccated coconut burns very easily so take care when adding it the the oil.