Kumm Curry

-

If I could, I would transport the taste and the smells that I am experiencing right now as I write this post. Or if only I could be transported to my mom's kitchen sitting on the counter watching her cook and share stories and gossip, I'd be a little bit, a tiny bit happier. Parents and home do that to you. Instead, I am going to recreate that atmosphere here on this post writing this recipe of this coconut kumm curry that mom made for me. I clicked a few pictures here and there with my phone trying not to interrupt her process too much, hence the weird angles. Not that I am a great photographer anyway. So here goes, the recipe for a lovely kumm curry.

Equipment Needed
  • A medium-sized deep bottomed wok

Ingredients
  • Wild or button mushrooms - 1/2 kg [these shrink so don't balk at the quantity]
  • Green chillies : 4-5 (less or more depending on spice levels)
  • Coriander seeds : 1 teaspoon
  • Cumin seeds : 1 teaspoon 
  • Garlic, peeled: 5-6 medium cloves
  • Turmeric powder :  1/2 teaspoon
  • Peppercorns : 8-10
  • Onion : 2, sliced
  • Red Chilly powder : 1/2 teaspoon
  • Lime Juice : 1/2 tablespoon
  • Salt to taste
  • Vegetable Oil : 2 tablespoons
For the Seasoning 
  • Mustard seeds : 1/2 teaspoon
  • Curry leaves : 10-15
Ground Coconut Paste
  • Coconut : 1 cup coconut, grated 
  • Cumin : 1/2 teaspoon, lightly roasted and powdered
Method
  • Wash and clean the mushooms and slice them as shown below. My mom also chops up the stems- those are the round pieces you see in the wok below
  • In a grinder-mixer, add in the coconut and cumin powder with a little bit of water and grind to a fine paste.
  • Heat oil in a wok, add in mustard seeds and let them crackle, add in the curry leaves and let them fry. 
  • Add in sliced onions, fry until brown and then add in the mushrooms.
  • Now add in all the powders : cumin, coriander, turmeric, red chilly, salt and saute.
  • After 2-3 minutes, add a cup of hot water and let the gravy come together and simmer for about 5-6 minutes. 
  • Finally add the ground coconut-cumin paste and watch the gravy thicken, keep stirring on low heat.
  • After 3-4 minutes, depending on the thickness of the gravy, remove from stove and stir in the lime juice.







Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Bamboo Shoot (Baimballe) Curry

-
Image
Bamboo shoot or Baimballe is a forest vegetable. Like literally, you don't find it anywhere but in forest and they also happen to be a favorite of the Elephants. I love elephants, they are my favorite animal! Close to where my grandmother lives, there is this beautiful elephant camp, Dubare, where they train them. When we were kids, my uncle would drive us down to Dubare  and we would spend an entire day there. It also happens to be by the banks of the river Kaveri. We would play in the shallow waters, cross the river on small pebbles and go on to the other side. The other side was where the elephants were kept, in huge wooden cages. but that's just the wild ones, who were recently captured and needed some disciplining and training by the mahouts. During lunch time, they would make HUGE raagi balls and feed the elephants! I've fed them and it's such a beautiful feeling. This huge creature opening it's mouth in front of you for it's food and after it swallow...
Read more

Madh Payasa

-
Image
For those intrigued by the magic of the medicinal madh thoppu from my previous post , below is a recipe on how to make madh payasa, that is if you are lucky enough to get these leaves from kodagu. I would also like to use this post to make people aware of the widespread destruction that floods and landslides induced by heavy rainfall has caused in Kodagu over the last couple of weeks. Kodavas from world over and especially those based in Bangalore have used their time, money and other resources to serve the people of kodagu, stepping over caste, creed, religion & language. While the district no longer requires donations in terms of relief material, it will take a long long time to rebuilt everything that has been lost and any monetary donations are very welcome. A few avenues where you can do this are donating to the Chief Minister's Relief fund  directly or to the fund via Google Tez or PayTm . I've extolled the brilliance of monsoons in kodagu in my last post, but ...
Read more

Undithe Poie

-
Image
Every year during our 2  month long summer vacations when we travelled to Coorg, we would spend a lot of time hanging out at home. Life had a rhythm to it. You'd wake up really early head to the kitchen for a cup of coffee or tea, eat some delish breakfast and follow that with another cup of tea or coffee and then basically hang around reading the newspaper or take a nap or go for a walk in the estate if it's not too hot. And the day would go by precisely that  lazily. Unless, you were going out visiting other relatives. Then you'd wake up every morning and be engulfed in a rush of activities, everything would need to be done with speed so you could depart at a reasonable hour. Often when people ask me what Coorg is like I describe it to be acres of coffee estate after coffee estates one after the other - often looking like one big estate itself. Often interspersing this view are occasional paddy fields. Chances of one coming across a house or people are rare when you'...
Read more