Mushroom pepper fry

We in home are not great fans of mushroom but I try to make it once in a while atleast for its health benefits. Whenever I make it, I spice it up well to avoid its bland taste.

And this one is a must try. Mushroom loaded with lots of pepper. Don't you feel like grabbing a bite from the below picture...

I love anything that is pepperish. Makes your dish hot, spicy and tasty. As opposed to chilli which gives a burning sensation, black pepper acts as a coolant to the body. So in most of the dishes, I find peppers a good substitute for chilli.  

In very ancient days, before the discovery of chilli, it was black pepper that was widely used in cooking. It is said that chilli originates from South America. In search of spices, Christopher Columbus set his journey from Portugal. However, Christopher Columbus landed in South America. He found that the origins of South America used chili. Columbus named them as "peppers" because they were similar in taste as black peppers. After the discovery of the spice, chilli replaced black pepper as prime spices in the culinary. (I think because chilli was less expensive than black peppers) Interesting! 

Ingredients

A cup of chopped mushrooms

1 medium sized onion

1 medium sized tomato

4 garlic pods

¼ ts turmeric powder, ½ ts chilli powder

Few curry leaves

To grind

1 ts peppercorns

½ ts fennel seed

¾ ts cumin seed

Preparation

Add oil in a flat bottomed wide pan. Once hot add onion and sauté for a minute. Add grated garlic and sauté for few seconds. Add curry leaves and turmeric powder. Quickly add the tomato paste. Mix well and fry for few minutes until the raw smell of tomato is gone. Add chilli powder, salt and the ground powder. Add chopped mushrooms and mix everything well until the mushroom is coated well with the masala. (Do not add water to cook mushroom. As it gets cooked mushroom will give out water of its own.) Keep the pan covered in medium flame for 5 minutes. Keep tossing them for every few seconds until the mushrooms have shrunk in size considerably and completely cooked. Add a little lemon squeeze at the end.