Mushroom-Peas gravy (North Indian style)

Overview:

Mushrooms, although very rich source of proteins(being in the secondary mycelium state when consumed) are not very likable among most of us. It might be because of their bland and raw taste which is more acquired than loved. I like mushrooms, and my experimental advents into finding out the best way to cook them made me draw the following conclusions. Mushrooms taste awesome in black pepper,yogurt and cream and also if cooked along with cashew and raisins, they give a peculiar nice aroma and taste. So, this one is a gravy where I cooked mushrooms in raisins and cashews. I will also discuss, how to make the same in black pepper in the same recipe, but I do not have a picture for it :-(

Ingredients:

You will need,

• Regular box of mushrooms, about 1.1 pound(500 grams).
• 1 cup washed green peas
• Half cup golden raisins
• 1/4th cup cashew-nuts
• Bay leaves, 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 regular onion, 2X2 inch piece ginger, 5 garlic cloves and 2-3 green chillies blended together
• 2 tbsp cooking oil( olive oil is healthier)
• salt 
• hunts tomato puree or diced tomato can
• 2tbsp dhaniya powder, 1tsp turmeric, 1 tsp red chilli powder, 1 tsp shan garam masala mixed together in 4-5 tbsp water.

Recipe:

1. Wash mushrooms and dice them into quarters. Do not dice very small pieces because they loose a lot of water and become almost minced otherwise. That reduces the aesthetic factor of the delicacy. 
2. Wash green peas and set aside. Heat the oil in a pressure cooker on high flame and add the bay leaves and cinnamon stick.
3. Now add the blend of onion-ginger-garlic-green chillies and saute till golden brown. This should not take more than 2 mins.
4. Add the mixture of Dhaniya powder,turmeric,red-chilli powder,garam masala to the cooker and stir well.
5. Now add salt as per taste. Stir the mixture well and now add the diced mushrooms and green peas together. Saute for a while so that the spice blend is evenly mixed in the vegetables.
6. Now add the raisins and the cashews. Mix well for a minute.
7. Now add 2/3rd can of the tomato puree/diced tomatoes. Cook for 2 minutes and then close the lid of the cooker.
8. Let go off just one whistle and turn off the heat. The mushrooms are done !!

Recipe with black pepper:

Just don't add raisins and Instead of adding turmeric and red-chilli powder just add 1 tsp of black pepper powder and add half cup of yogurt before adding tomatoes. After the whistle goes off, garnish generously with cream and mix well before serving !! (which means .. everything is same as above.. except in step 4, instead of turmeric and red-chilli powder, add 1 tsp crushed( or powdered) black pepper and after stirring it for a minute, add half cup of yogurt. and in step 6, do not add raisins .. )

Presentation:

Garnish with green chillies and cilantro! Serve Hot !

Cucumber Sandwich

Overview:

It is just your regular cucumber sandwich , made out of whole wheat bread, stuffed with cucumber, tomatoes  onion or lettuce/romaine in a little unconventional way. A breakfast or lunch ,easy to prepare, much better on health count and a tasty and healthy getaway from oats once in a while :-)

Ingredients:

You will need,

• wheat bread
• cucumber slices
• finely chopped tomatoes
• finely chopped onion
• finely chopped lettuce/romaine as you prefer
• black pepper
• salt
• any pasta sauce, or even regular ketchup will do
• fresh mozzarella cheese
• For a meat sandwich, one can use baked chicken or even turkey left after thanksgiving ;-)

Recipe:

1. Toast two bread slices. I prefer toasting the bread first because later with all the filling the sandwich becomes all soggy inside.
2. On the bread slice, spread ketchup or your favorite pasta sauce.( can have flavors of Parmesan garlic etc.) Top up with tomatoes, onions, cucumber slices and lettuce/romaine generously.
3. Sprinkle some salt and black pepper powder on it evenly.
4. Garnish with fresh mozzarella cheese and cover the sandwich with the other slice of bread.
5. Microwave the sandwich at high power for 15 seconds, cut in halves.

Presentation:

Cut in even halves and serve with fresh fruit or salad. I once made an additional filling of baked rosemary chicken to be put into it. All you have to do is , flavor chicken with rosemary herb, salt-pepper for 15-20 mins and bake it at 400 degree F(205 degree C) and splash some lemon juice on it after baking. Fill it in along with veggies :-)

You can use the left-over thanksgiving Turkey too !!