Magnificent mushrooms are not only a thorough source of nutrients, but also a flavor. They are a regular part of my grocery list for a variety of reasons. Whether you want to throw a handful of mushrooms in fried rice, sandwich, or make a mushroom sauce or curry out of them they add such a depth of flavor to the dish. My favorite go to mushrooms to use in day today cooking is portabella or shitake. They are available in any grocery store you stumble across.

Another super convenient my own way of making mushrooms to suit any meal is using them to make delicious curry spice-based chili mushrooms. A rich, spicy meaty sauce of bright inviting cherry nutmeg colored sauce, which brings any dish come alive with flavor. Today I am excited to share my chili mushroom sauce recipe without cream.

Helpful tips for making chili mushroom sauce and little bit about ingredients

A lengthy list of ingredients and cooking time might seem intimidating, but this is truly one of the easiest recipes to make. It is a recipe that you would dump things as you go and let everything cook down soft. There is not much fear of things going wrong. This is also a fail proof recipe, if you choose to go the convenient route, this can be made in instant pot or slow cooker.

Mushrooms

Use fresh mushrooms as much as possible. I am using one package of baby Bella or button mushrooms from Costco. Because they make the base and the body of the sauce, you want to start working with maximum fresh flavor as much as possible. Let that earthiness power steep into the sauce.

Clean them lightly with a wet paper towel to scrub away any particles. Slice them thin before adding to the sauce.

Chilies

I am using astronomical amount of heat from red chili (Spanish paprika), black pepper cones and green chili, ginger brings in some heat as well. This is a very spicy sauce because that’s why it needs to be. We need the flavors to hold up well in long cooking period and during storage.

You are welcome to spoon it over your scrambled eggs or chips as it is or dilute it with coconut milk or water to make a milder version according to your taste.

Salt

Salt, soy sauce, oyster sauce, and fish sauce are all the ingredients that bring salt to this dish. Mushrooms and tomatoes will absorb a lot of salt, and some will remain in the sauce to bring the flavor and add some preservation. Again, adding little more flavors than I would for a curry because I do plan to use this to flavoring other dishes and melas.

If you would like to keep this recipe plant based, you can skip these and just adjust the salt level according to your taste.

Check out easier recipes to make in your home kitchen from twinkl.com

Heat and cooking time

I am using medium to low heat to cook this sauce and long cooking time helps properly develop flavors. Mushrooms are going to cook down to a point where they disappear into the sauce and melt in the mouth.

Keeping the cooking temperature lower helps to release enough juices from the vegetables slowly allows flavors from the curry powder into the oils and juices to form nice layers of flavor in the base. With heat kept low, there is no risk or the chance of curry powder burning at the bottom of the pot.

Tamarind

To anyone who has not cooked with tamarind before, I urge you to check it out. It is a delicate sweet and sour fruit that is commonly used in cooking meat or fish curries and sauces across Asia. It comes from the fruit of the giant tamarind tree, and I remember I used to love munching on sweet fruits until I got caught with bright maroon fingers and lips.

Tamarind is a wonderful addition when it comes to Sri Lankan red curries, to balance out the heat in the sauce. I prefer using packaged ripe fruit dissolved in little water when I make curries, but it is conveniently available to use as tamarind concentrate directly from the tube too.

Recipe inspiration

I have always loved Sri Lankan spicy mushroom curry made from oyster mushrooms and Indian mushroom masala made from baby portabellas. Drawing Inspirations from the cooking tips I gathered from my friends while I was studying in India, as well as updated version of cooking blogs like ministry of curry I created my version of spicy hot mushroom sauce, to make my weekday egg and avocado breakfast extra flavorful. This recipe is nut free plant based, and curry inspired curry blend. Indian mushroom masala is the reason I am using ghee in this recipe instead of coconut oil. It is just the right choice for this curry sauce.

Mushroom Chili Sauce

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr 15 minutes mins

Equipment

• 1 High speed blender
• 1 Sauté pan

Ingredients

  

• 1 package Baby portabella mushrooms 24 oz/ 1 package
• 1 cup shitake mushrooms rehydrated Soak for two hours until rehydrate and dice

Spices

• 2 tbsp Spanish paprika powder
• 2 tsp black curry powder
• 1 tbsp whole black pepper
• 3 tsp salt
• pinch nutmeg
• ¼ tsp mustard seeds
• 4 cloves
• 1 tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 2 cups diced tomatoes
• 1 cup diced red onions
• 1 inch piece of ginger finely minced
• 3 cloves garlic finely minced
• 20 curry leaves finely chopped
• 3 Thai green peppers finely minced
• 1 tsp tamarind paste
• 2 tbsp ghee
• 1 cup water

Instructions

 

• Clean the mushrooms with a wet paper towel and slice thin. We are using the stems as well. Nothing gets wasted in this recipe.
• Soak the shitake mushrooms to rehydrate and slice them thin as well.
• Mince red onion, ginger, garlic, green peppers, curry leaves finely. Set it aside.
• Crush ginger and garlic together with the back of knife and give it a fine mince.
• Dry roast Spanish paprika powder for couple of minutes. add crushed black pepper and mix all the remaining seasoning powders. Add salt to make a curry blend.

Making the sauce

• Heat a sauté' pan on high and heat a couple of tablespoons of ghee until extremely hot. Add mustard seeds. When you can hear the mustard seeds cracking, add onions. Turn the heat to low and fry them until translucent.
• Add finely minced ginger and garlic paste. Fry for a few more seconds until soft and translucent.
• Add tomatoes and mix everything up. cover and cook until tomatoes are soft and release lot of its juices.
• Add curry spice blend and toss to combine. Keep the heat low to prevent the spices from burning. add green hot peppers and curry leaves. Mix, cover and cook for a couple of minutes. Tomatoes will release their juices even more as they cook.
• Add mushrooms in batches and combine well with mushroom based pan sauce. Cover and let it cook for 10 minutes on low tossing and turn once to redistribute the sauce. Mushrooms will become soft and release juices a lot as they cook.
• Add water and mix everything up well. Increase the heat to medium and cook covered until everything comes to a slow boil. Turn the heat back to low and cook for 40 minutes until everything cooks down well and mushrooms fall apart soft.
• Taste and adjust flavors to your liking. It will be on be spicier than a regular curry.
• Turn the heat off and puree half of the sauce before adding it back to the sauce. Turn the heat back on to low and cook until everything comes to a boil once and turn the heat off. Alternatively, you can blend using stick blender during the last few minutes of cooking.
• Let the sauce cook and pack into airtight containers and store in fridge or freezer.

Reheating the sauce for meals.

• Add two tablespoons of the sauce to half a cup of water or coconut milk. heat gently on a small skillet or in microwave on low power. Spoon over eggs, steak tips, or chips.