This delicious Indian mushroom curry riffs off a mutton curry recipe my dad made each Sunday. Chunky mushrooms soak up a spicy coconut sauce, creating so much flavor and texture that no one will miss the meat!
Table of Contents
Easy, healthy mushroom curry
I created this mushroom curry recipe, which I call "my dad's not-mutton mushroom curry," in memory of my father who was a great cook. A mutton curry he made for lunch every Sunday was the highlight of our weekends.
Dad's family was from Karwar, a beautiful coastal city in the south Indian state of Karnataka, known for its spicy, coconut-based cuisine. Dad had a fierce love for Karwari food and, true to form, he made this curry with lots of coconut and spices. He did most of the work himself, from buying the mutton (goat's meat) in the morning to actually cooking it, as well as supervising everyone in the household who had some role to play in the actual preparation. My job was peeling a whole bulb of garlic and grating two kinds of coconut, fresh and dry. I hated both jobs: the juices from the garlic set my fingernails on fire, and I don't remember a time when I didn't grate my hand along with the coconut!
But I did love that curry. I can close my eyes and still see Dad standing over a two-burner stove in our Bombay kitchen, carefully roasting the spices and the coconut and then grinding them to perfection in a little blender. He loved making that curry, just as much as we loved eating it.
After turning vegetarian, I would crave the spices in my dad's mutton curry and that's when I came up with this mushroom curry. Mushrooms are delicious in Indian recipes like this Chettinad mushroom masala and mushroom biryani. They are a natural meat substitute and they are supremely healthy. They add so much delightful texture to this curry, and soak up all the flavor of the spices.
I make this easy mushroom curry with the exact masalas Dad used for his mutton curry but because I use only veggies, I get to skip several steps involving marinating and tenderizing the meat. The curry is creamy and loaded with flavor, with lots of texture from the mushrooms and potatoes. I swear you will not miss the meat. Even omnivores I've served it to love its robust flavors.
Love mushrooms in curries? Be sure to try this creamy Malaysian mushroom korma and my Instant Pot mushroom and potato korma.
Recipe card
Mushroom Curry
Ingredients
- 1.5 tablespoon avocado oil or any neutral oil
- 2 tablespoon coriander seeds
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
- 1-2 dry red chili peppers (can use cayenne, up to 1 tsp, or any red chili powder, like Kashmiri chili powder for good color and moderate heat)
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- 1 inch cinnamon stick
- 5 cloves
- 5 pods green cardamom pods
- ½-inch piece dagad phool (stoneflower, optional)
- ½ flower mace (optional)
- 1 tablespoon poppy seeds
- 1 teaspoon black peppercorns (use less for less heat)
- 1 large onion (half sliced, the other half finely diced)
- 6 large cloves garlic (sliced)
- 1-inch piece ginger (thinly sliced)
- ½ cup shredded coconut (unsweetened. Use freshly grated or frozen)
- 2-4 tablespoon cilantro (chopped)
- 2 medium potatoes (cut into 1-inch cubes)
- 2 cups dried mushrooms
- 8 oz cremini mushrooms or button mushrooms (or button mushrooms are fine)
- 2 tablespoon lemon juice (plus more lemon wedges for serving)
Instructions
- Soak the dry mushrooms in 3 cups boiling water for at least 30 minutes to help them reconstitute. Once they are plump and juicy, halve or quarter them. You can trim out any tough stems.
- Heat ½ tablespoon of the oil in a skillet. Add the coriander, cumin, chillies. cardamom, cloves, dagad phool and mace if using, cinnamon, peppercorns, poppy seeds and fennel seeds, Roast over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the coriander seeds start changing color and become fragrant.
- Add the sliced onion, garlic and ginger and saute until the onions get brown spots. Stir in turmeric after turning off the heat. Remove the spices to a plate to cool down.
- Without adding any more oil, roast the shredded coconut in the hot pan until some of the shreds turn quite brown but be careful not to burn. Coconut has oils and can burn easily. Place the coconut on the plate with the other roasted spices.
- Once the coconut and spices have cooled, add them to the blender with a cup of water (or use a cup of the water you soaked the mushrooms in). Blend into a very smooth paste.
- In the same skillet, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil.
- Add the chopped onions and cilantro with about ½ teaspoon of salt and cook until the onions begin to brown.
- Stir in the potatoes and the shiitake mushrooms. Add the water remaining from soaking the mushrooms to the pot, stir, cover and let the potatoes cook until almost tender. Stir a couple of times while they are cooking to make sure there's some liquid in the pot.
- Once the potatoes are almost done, add the crimini or button mushrooms, stir to mix, and then add the ground masala from the blender.
- At this point add a cup or two of water or vegtable stock to thin out the curry to your liking. Stir well, check the seasoning and add salt, and let the curry come to a boil. Let it cook, uncovered, over medium-high heat until you see some specks of fat pool at the top, about 10-15 minutes. You can add more water at any point if the curry gets too thick.
- Garnish with cilantro and turn off the heat. Serve hot with wedges of lemons to squirt on top of the curry.
Notes
- For a low-carb diet, leave the potatoes out of this recipe to reduce carbs to 16 net grams.
- To reduce oil, cut down the oil in step 6 to ½ tbsp.
- If you are feeding this to children, cut down the quantity of peppercorns to up to ¼ teaspoon and also cut down or leave out red chili peppers/powder.
- Use 1 cup coconut milk instead of grated coconut.
Nutrition Information
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Mushroom curry FAQs
I use two kinds of mushrooms in this recipe, fresh cremini mushrooms and dried, reconstituted shiitake mushrooms. The fresh and dried mushrooms add different flavors and textures. Use any mushrooms you can find, fresh or dried, including button mushrooms, oyster mushrooms, lion's mane mushrooms, portobello mushrooms and maitake mushrooms.
There are potatoes in this recipe, in addition to the mushrooms. I strongly recommend not adding more veggies so as to not dilute the flavor, but if absolutely want to you can add eggplant, zucchini or cauliflower.
The mushroom curry pairs nicely with any Indian bread, including roti and vegan naan. We would eat the curry with a soft roll called pav, tearing pieces of the bread with our fingers and dunking it into the curry. A soft sourdough roll would be just as wonderful.
I also love this curry with rice, like jeera rice, carrot rice or turmeric rice. Serve vegan raita on the side.
Anonymous says
Hi vaishali,
this recipe reminded me of my mothers cauliflower. potato and peas curry (she use the same ingredient to create the curry masala). she uses the same masala, for making drumsticks and potato curry.
God bless,
Nisha.
Samarpita says
Lovely recipe. A big time keeper. Me and hubby totally adored this.
Anonymous says
Hi,
I just made this and the color was different but I think it's because I used a can of diced tomatoes. Anyway, the flavors are definitely very strong and this was different than most Indian dishes I'm used to making. The only problem I had was with the texture. I made the paste in my new Preethi and so when I put it in my mushroom mixture it ended up extremely thick. I just added some water to get a better texture and it ended up great. Thanks for sharing this recipe!!
Anonymous says
Hi,
Tried it with couple of extra chillies, and curry leaves, came out well. Thanks
Naren
Vaishali says
Surya, glad you and your wife liked it. My stepmother's Goan, and although I think it's originally my dad's recipe, I can imagine some Goan influence could have crept in 🙂
Surya says
Tried this with potatos and nutrela (soybean). Wife loves it. She says this one's a "keeper". Thanks for the recipe.
It tastes very similar to mutton xacuti.. any Konkani / Goenkar connection ?
Give Peas A Chance says
this sounds delish! I'm going to try it without potatoes I'm not a fan but we love watercress here even my 2 year old
single dad says
I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don't know what to say except that I have enjoyed. Really a nice post here!
AlienPlanet says
Thanks Vaishali,
Of course I remember Dad's Mutton Curry and since I would sometimes help him around, during our Pune days, I mastered it myself. I often make Dad's Mutton Curry myself but since we are confirmed die-hard carnivores, I prefer the real stuff- Mutton.
And guess what...Ingmar also calls it Dad's Mutton Curry because now its his dad who makes it.
Mushrooms are pretty pricey out here at the moment, so I had tried one veggie version of this curry...using Suran...known better as Yam. It tastes similar to mutton when cooked that style. Only, you need to soak the Suran in a good quantity of water-tamarind solution to remove whatever stuff it has that causes itching.
So, next time, try the recipe with Suran instead of mushrooms !!!
Vaishali says
Thanks, Vani.
vkbook says
I made this yesterday and it is yummy. It is easy to make. I made with a half dried mushroom (reconstituted) and half button mushroom. Tastes fantastic with both rotis as well as rice. Thanks Vaishali for this wonderful recipe.
Vani
Vaishali says
Bhanu, I don't usually give explicit directions on salt because that's one ingredient people tend to use according to taste and, sometimes, health. For any dish on my blog, including this one, I'd advise adding the salt toward the end, unless I indicate otherwise. I find I tend to use less salt if I add it toward the end. Also, I don't usually add salt before tomatoes in a recipe are completely cooked, because there's something about salt that keeps tomatoes from cooking thoroughly.
Hope that helps 🙂
Bhanu says
Looks good probably it will taste good, but you did not mention anything about salt? how much to add and when to add? what's up with that? Please clarify cos I want to try it!!!
Joel says
my harddrive died about 3 months back, ive been looking ever since for your blog. i was lying in bed and just remembered "my dads not mutton mushroom curry". THANKYOU SEARCH ENGINE :D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D
Anonymous says
Tried this last week and i must I loved the taste.Thanks.
priya
kishore says
As some one who is practically brain dead and lazy, I tried this recipe cos I was unemployed and hungry. I took several short cuts couldn't remember (brain dead), but turned out great!! I think this is one of those idiot proof recipes. One thing I couldn't fathom is mine turned out yellowish in color while it looks dark brown on your page! Probably I went overboard with turmeric. Thanks vaishali for publishing a dish suited to my needs.
Pooja says
Thanks Vaishali for the recipe.This dish turned out superb. It tasted like mutton curry. My husband liked it very much. I have posted it in my blog too 🙂
Yasmeen says
Gosh,that's so spicy and flavorful,you bet I won't miss the meat.You are right about the texture of mushrooms,perfect to substitute for meat.
Anonymous says
Hi,
I tried this recipe for afternoon ..It tasted very good with paratha....Thanx for the recipe.
Carol says
this is really delicious! I saw your post at ppk and made this tonight, as well as your rice with cumin, pistachios, and raisins - fabulous! thanks so much for posting it.
Vaishali says
Miri, that really is ironic!
Lavanya, Anke, Srivalli- Thanks!
Srivalli says
what a wonderful post...you got me visualizing your dad cooking over the stove!...the curry looks divine...thanks for the Veg version...will try it sometime!
Anke says
this sounds enticing. the spice mix is fabulous. a must-try 🙂
Laavanya says
That looks delicious... Thank you for a vegetarian version.
Miri says
What an irony, just posted about mutton kurma - have never eaten kurma at home growing up, so made it by tweaking the recipe Amma used for veg kurma!
Your mushroom recipe looks delicious
Vaishali says
Happy Cook, Thanks. I hope you will try it.
a-kay: mushrooms are wonderful- there are so many types of them, and each with its own unique flavor. Hope you enjoy them in this dish!
A-kay says
Been a vegetarian all my life and trying to develop a taste for mushroom. Guess this dish will help me along the way. Looks yummy!
Happy cook says
Wow this is a must try dish for me.
Just super delicious
Vaishali says
Thanks, Vimmi, but the whole idea is that it tastes as good WITHOUT the mutton.
vimmi says
That looks yummy. will try it with mutton.