Entertain at home: Three marvellous mushroom curries

To help you out, we’ve found three mouth-watering curry dishes with mushrooms as the hero of each dish. All three pack serious flavour and heartiness.

Creamy cashew nut & mushroom curry

Serves 6

You’ll need: 1 Tbsp ghee; 1 medium onion, finely chopped; 1 tsp garlic, minced; 1 Tbsp ginger, grated; 1 tsp curry powder; 1 tsp garam masala; ½ tsp cayenne pepper; ½ tsp turmeric; 1 tin chopped tomatoes; ½ cup raw cashew nuts; 2 Tbsp ghee; 400g portabellini or button mushrooms, sliced; 2 tsp curry powder; salt and pepper, to taste; 1 cup peas, fresh or frozen; rice, fresh coriander, toasted cashew nuts and finely sliced red onion to serve.

How to:

In a large pot over medium heat, fry the onion, garlic and ginger in ghee along with all the spices. Cook until the spices become fragrant and the onion is tender. Add in the tin of tomatoes and simmer for 5 minutes. Stir through the cashew nuts and remove from the heat.

Add about 1 cup of cold water to the sauce and then carefully transfer to a blender or use a stick blender. Blend until smooth and set aside. Taste for seasoning.

Fry sliced mushrooms in the remaining ghee. Season with curry powder, salt and pepper.

To the cooked mushrooms add the blended sauce and bring to a simmer. Add the peas and cook for a minute.

Spoon curry onto a bed of rice and top with fresh coriander and toasted cashew nuts.

Silky mushroom & coconut curry

Serves 4

You’ll need: 2 Tbsp ghee; 1 tsp brown mustard seeds; 1 tsp garam masala; ½ tsp chilli powder; 12 curry leaves; 5 cardamom pods; 2 tsp ground coriander; 1 tsp turmeric; 2 onions, sliced into half-moons; 2 cloves garlic, grated; 700ml passata/ tomato purée; 1 tin coconut milk; 8 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into bite-sized pieces; 2 Tbsp ghee; 400g button or portabellini mushrooms, sliced in half; 2 tsp garam masala; salt and pepper, to taste; naan or rice, fresh coriander and sambals to serve.

How to:

In a large pot over medium heat add the ghee and bloom all the spices until fragrant. Add the onion and cook until soft and then add the garlic and cook for a minute.

Add in the tomato purée and coconut milk and stir to combine. Bring to a simmer. Add the cubed potatoes and simmer on a low with the lid on for about 30 minutes or until the potatoes are fully cooked. If necessary, add a splash of water so the potatoes have enough liquid to cook in.

In a separate frying pan cook the mushrooms in the remaining ghee and garam masala. Cook until the mushrooms are golden brown. Once the potatoes are cooked add in the sliced mushrooms and stir to combine.

Serve over a bed of rice and garnish with fresh coriander.

Mushroom & spinach koftas in a creamy curry sauce

Serves 4

You’ll need: For the koftas – 200g baby spinach, blanched and squeezed; 4 large potatoes, cooked, peeled & mashed; 250g mixed cultivated mushrooms of choice, roughly chopped; 2 tsp curry powder; 1 Tbsp ginger, grated; 1 tsp garlic, grated; 1 green chilli, finely chopped; 1 egg, beaten; 1 cup chickpea or wheatflour; salt and pepper, to taste.

For the creamy curry sauce: 1 large onion, diced; 1 tsp ginger, grated; 1 tsp garlic, grated; 1 tsp red chilli powder; 1 Tbsp curry powder; 250g button mushrooms, quartered; 1 tin chopped tomatoes; 1 tin coconut milk or cream; salt and pepper, to taste; olive oil or ghee, for cooking; rice, toasted cashew nuts & fresh coriander to serve.

How to:

Preheat oven to 180˚C.

For the koftas:

Prep the spinach and potatoes and place them in a large bowl. In a frying pan over medium-high heat cook the mushrooms in a drizzle of olive oil or ghee. Add the curry powder, ginger, garlic and chilli. Season.

Add the cooked mushroom mixture to the spinach and potatoes. Combine together with the egg and flour. Divide the mixture evenly and roll into golf ball-sized rounds.

Place the koftas on a lined baking tray. Bake for 20 minutes until lightly browned. Remove from the oven and set aside.

For the sauce:

Fry the onion until tender in a drizzle of olive oil or ghee. Add the ginger, garlic and spices. Once the spices are fragrant add the mushrooms. Cook until the mushrooms are just tender and then add the tinned tomatoes. Cook down until the tinned tomatoes have reduced and thickened. Add in the coconut cream, season and bring to a simmer. Place koftas into the sauce to reheat and absorb flavour.

 Serve kofta curry with rice, fresh coriander& toasted cashew nuts for crunch.

* Recipes & images by The South African Mushroom Farmers’ Association.