I cannot tell you how scrumptious—and simple—this curry is. I had never eaten it before until Kaveri made it for me in her large, beautiful modern home in Bangalore, replete with vaulted ceilings and two kitchens, one for Kaveri, who is a food writer, and one for the staff. She and her husband, Naresh, are both from Coorg in South Karnataka (Coorg is the British name, but it is now referred to frequently as Kodagu, its original name), where they have vast holdings that include coffee plantations and tracts of the forested, mountainous wilderness that this area is famous for.
Many of the Kodavas are of the Kshatriya, or warrior caste, and, perhaps not so strangely, have risen in the ranks of the Indian army to gain the highest positions. Kodavas are not vegetarians, but they have such unusual vegetarian dishes that I had to travel up and down Coorg to learn more.
Traditionally, the people here are farmers (rice grows in the valleys), but they are also hunter-gatherers because their misty land in the mountainous Western Ghats of southwestern India is filled with game and fish. The British called it India’s Scotland. They grow cardamom, coffee, and black pepper, and some shops in Madikeri, the capital city, specialize in selling just those three items. They have wonderful honey, which is also sold in the Madikeri market. The forests provide wild mangoes and bitter oranges, and in the very wet, four-month rainy season, the wilderness provides the hunter-gatherers with most of their fresh produce. At this time, it bursts over with bamboo shoots (which mysteriously disappear every sixty years and then slowly regenerate), wild greens such as ferns, colocasia (they cook the tender leaves while they are still uncurled), and many, many varieties of mushrooms.
The wild mushrooms, with names such as nucchie kumme and aalandi kumme, range from tiny ones that carpet the forest floor to wood-ear types that grow on tree trunks and those that look like petalled flowers. The largest ones, nethelé kumme, can grow to the size of a large dinner plate and are simply roasted over wood and seasoned with salt, lime juice, and crushed green chilies (see my version, Broiled Portobello Mushrooms in the Kodaga Style).
For this dish of curried mushrooms, the white cultivated variety works just as well, and that is what Kaveri uses when she is not on her Coorg estate or when local mushrooms are out of season.
Housewives in Coorg use a tiny amount of their thick, sticky local vinegar, called “kachampuli,” when making this curry and many of their other dishes as well. Even though I was given a precious triple-wrapped bottle that I carried all the way back home, I did not use it when I tested this recipe, as I know that it is found nowhere outside of Coorg. I just used more of the lime juice. It still tasted wonderful.
Serve this creamy curry with rice. At one of my dinners, I made Berry Pilaf, Eggs in a Hyderabadi Tomato Sauce, Toovar Dal with Spinach and Sorrel, Cabbage Fritters, and this mushroom curry. It was a lovely combination.
This dish is also quite wonderful with rice noodles (see Note on Sevai) and superb when served on toast.
SERVES 4
• A 14-ounce can coconut milk, left undisturbed for 24 hours to allow the cream to rise to the top
• 1 lb. small button mushrooms
• 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
• ½ teaspoon ground turmeric
• 4 tablespoons olive or peanut oil
• 6 tablespoons peeled and finely chopped shallots
• 2 teaspoons ground coriander
• ¼–½ teaspoon nice red chili powder
• 2–3 fresh hot green chilies, slit in half lengthwise or finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
1. Open the can of coconut milk without disturbing it too much, and spoon the thick cream at the top into a bowl. Leave the thin coconut milk in the can.
2. Halve the mushrooms. Any large ones may be quartered. Place them all in a bowl, and sprinkle the salt and turmeric over them. Wear plastic gloves if you wish, as the turmeric can stain. Thoroughly rub these flavorings into the mushrooms. Set aside for about 10 minutes.
3. Put the oil in a medium-sized frying pan and set over medium-high heat. When hot, add the shallots and stir-fry until they just start to brown. Take the pan off the heat and add the coriander and chili powder. Stir a few times.
4. Put the pan back on the stove, turning the heat to medium-low. Add the green chilies and stir a few times. Now add the mushrooms and their accumulated liquid. Stir and cook on medium-high heat for 2 minutes. Add ¾ cup of the thin coconut milk and bring to a simmer. Simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes.
5. Add ¾ cup of the coconut cream and stir to mix. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat, then reduce the heat to very low and simmer gently, uncovered, for about a minute, stirring now and then. Turn the heat off. Add the lime juice and stir it in.
