Sunday, October 9, 2011

'Mushroom-Baby Corn Stir Fry’- A Quick Food- Healthy & Yummy




     Hi, here is a quick dish simple and yummy! You just need a vegetable and a Fungus, I mean the Mushroom, stir fry with little spice and condiments ... Voila ! You have a tasty and filling meal in a jiffy!

     People around the world including our state collected natural grown mushrooms after rains, as they were a delicacy. As a student of Agriculture, we were taught about the edible Fungi, known as Mushrooms. But only during mid 70 ies I have tasted them in soups. Those days’ button mushrooms were available only as a canned product. Oyster (Pleurotus) Mushroom made an entry in the eighties around Coimbatore and other plains and was instantly become popular. Only in the last decade the Button (Agaricus) mushrooms are seen in many supermarkets and vegetable shops in India.

     Mushroom and Baby corns are in fact exotic in origin. Button Mushrooms available in supermarkets are the cultivated edible ones containing essential B-vitamins, minerals and fibre. Baby corns are good source of dietary fibre, carotenoides, sugar and protein.

Ingredients

1.       White Button Mushroom – 250g
2.       Baby corns- 10 no / 150g
3.       Small onion/ shallot -4 or Onion– 1 no - finely chopped 
4.       Garlic cloves- 5 no -diced
5.       Ginger – 1 cm cube finely chopped
6.       Mint leaves- 12-15
7.       Coriander leaves finely chopped– 50g or Handful
8.       Green Chilly- one
9.       Cumin seeds- Half Tea spoon
10.   A tea spoon of cooking oil or one spoon of butter
11.   Pepper corns –5-6 pounded.
12.   Salt to taste- 2 to 3g

Preparation (5- minutes)

Always wash and clean the mushrooms of any soil. Dice the mushroom as half or quarter as per the size. Cut the baby corn in to four long slices. Add oil or butter to the frying pan; heat it on a medium flame. Add the cumin and fry followed by onion, garlic, chilliy and ginger. Fry them for a minute or two with a pinch of salt. Now toss in the finely chopped mint and coriander leaves; fry them for a minute more. Now add the mushroom and baby corn stir fry them adding the required salt. The water in the mushroom will start coming out and will be sufficient to cook them both. Cover the pan with lid for a while to cook partially. Then toss them to remove the excess moisture. A good aroma will tell you that the dish is ready! Sprinkle the pounded pepper and finish the dish. Make sure the mushroom and corn are rightly cooked and should be crunchy when tasted.
Now the delicious yet filling dish is ready as a main course!
Still it can turn into a good side dish too. One can role it in a chapathy or make a sandwich with bread. Also can accompany with a bowl of steamed Rice for a sumptuous meal ! 

 I recommend this to our children who are in different corners of the world; pursuing their higher education; always hard pressed for time to cook a decent meal! Instead of falling again for a fast food, I wish they try this Quick filler!
I hope my nieces and nephews will mail me back after trying it!

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