Grandma's mushroom secrets

Pristine white crockery has been an all time favourite with me. Colours are eloquent on a white canvas. There is nothing like a clean white plates (let the shape be any)…that makes food speak out. They come alive and present such a pretty picture that eye appeal scores high. After an era of experimentation with colorful pottery, it is peaceful to see most food outlets using white crockery. 

When speaking of white plates, I remember the ancient ones in my grandmother’s kitchen. They were more a gray than white though, due to lack of high quality glazing used today. I particularly remember the old fashioned white sauce boat perched on the crockery shelf, waiting to be taken out when special guests came for lunch…guests for dinner was a rarity or rather a non occurrence! I came by a similar sauce boat few days back in a run down shop in a market in the older part of the city. The nostalgia was so strong that I bought it without a second thought; so excited was I that I caused much amusement for the shopkeeper! 

All this talk about ancient crockery and my grandmother has just brought back memories of the heavenly mushrooms in ‘pepper masala’ that she doles out lovingly. I am particularly fond of mushrooms in continental fare but I tend to pass it by in an Indian menu. But this recipe has always had me licking my fingers.

Wash and clean well one bowl of mushrooms, leave smaller ones whole, and cut the larger ones appropriately
Grind to a coarse paste… five cloves of garlic, eight shallots (popularly known as sambar onions), one red chilly, two tablespoons of peppercorns, two tablespoons of whole coriander seeds and salt to taste.
Heat a table spoon of oil (sesame/gingelly would be apt but u may use vegetable to suit your palate) in a pan
Add a few curry leaves and the masala and stir fry till the oil show up at the edges 

Toss in the mushrooms and sprinkle water to loosen the masala
Keep turning them around until soft and are coated well.
Squeeze half a lemon over it

Serve with steaming hot rice or any Indian bread of your choice and a wholesome salad by the side on 'white crockery' and watch the drama unfold!