Mushrooms in a spicy coconut sauce or Mushroom ambat

Mushrooms cooked in a spicy coconut gravy and then tempered with onions is one of the best. The combination of mild earthy flavor of mushrooms mixed with spicy coconut gravy and then tempered with browned onions can be only delightful, aromatic and appetizing! This dish or Ambat's in general are made spicy, so you can adjust the spice level according to your taste buds.
You can use small button mushrooms and cut into half Or large white mushrooms chopped into bite size pieces. Back home where I grew up, in rainy season we used to buy those small mushrooms which were round in shape and also they had a thin shell on the outside which had to be peeled off, and inside was a pure white soft edible mushroom. The aroma was very different than the cultivated ones. Since they were so seasonal and I must say the availability was only for a month or so and also they were quite expensive. In this recipe I have used the large button mushrooms; at my place we always have mushrooms in our refrigerator, because we like mushrooms a lot.


Recipe follows..

Ingredients:

4 to 5 large button mushrooms cut into bite size pieces.
1 small onion finely chopped
2 tbsp cooking oil

For masala:

¾ cup fresh shredded coconut
5 roasted red chillies
½ tsp or less tamarind concentrate
Salt to to taste

Method:

1. Clean mushrooms with a damp paper towel or cloth and chop them into bite size pieces. In a sauce pan add little water and cook the mushrooms.

2. Finely chop onions and set aside.

3. In a blender grind to a fine paste coconut, roasted red chillies and tamarind paste with little water.

4. Now add the coconut masala/paste, salt to the mushrooms and bring it to a boil, and turn the heat to low.

5. Meanwhile, heat 2 tbsp cooking oil in a frying pan and to this add the finely chopped onions and fry till golden brown.

6. Add the fried/browned onions to the mushroom curry and mix one last time and turn the heat off.

7. Serve with steamed rice.