Chop onions, slit green chilies. Soak cashews for 15 minutes or wash green peas, drain them and set aside.
Heat oil in a pan, add cumin, mustard, allow them to splutter, add curry leaves or mint and green chili and fry till you get a good aroma.
Add onions, sprinkle little salt and fry them evenly till they brown, not burnt. While the onions fry, you can chop the mushrooms.
Sprinkle plain flour over the mushrooms and begin to peel off the skin from the bottom as shown in the pictures. They can just be washed and used without peeling.
Wash them in a bowl of water, do not soak them in water for long as they tend to become soggy or soft.
Cut only before you add to the curry to avoid them from discoloring. Some remove the hairy part, I sometimes don’t as I find no difference. Cut to desired sizes.
Add ginger garlic paste, fry till you get a good aroma, takes a min to two. Do not burn.
This step is optional, if you chose to use tomato. Add the chopped tomatoes and fry till the tomatoes turn mushy and then dry.
Drain off the water from cashews. Add them or green peas and fry on high for 2 mins.
Add chopped mushrooms, turmeric, salt and fry on a medium flame till you begin to get an aroma of mushrooms. This takes 2 mins.
Add red chili powder and garam masala powder, mix & fry for a min.
Cover and cook on a low flame till the mushrooms are cooked, giving a good stir in between. Takes only 2 to 4 mins. Do not overcook as mushrooms tend to become soggy very fast.
Serve with rice and ghee or chapathi.