Mushroom Thokku – Kaalan Thokku Recipe (2024)

• 30 small White Button Mushrooms / Kaalan
• 1 cup Onion chopped
• 1 cup Tomato chopped
• 6 cloves Garlic crushed
• 2 inch Ginger crushed
• 1/2 teaspoon Turmeric powder
• 2 tablespoon Kuzhambu Milagai Thool / Sambar Podi *see notes
• 1 teaspoon Cumin seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon Fennel seeds
• 4 each Curry leaves
• 1.5 teaspoon Salt preferably kosher crystal salt
• 3 tablespoon Oil
• 2 teaspoon Coriander leaves optional, for garnish

Prep work

• Finely chop white button mushrooms, onion and tomatoes.

• Crush fresh ginger and garlic. You may use ginger garlic paste instead.

• Kuzhambu Milagai Thool gives the right texture and color for this thokku. If you cannot find, please replace it with any mild Sambar Powder or Curry Powder.

• Method

• Heat oil in a pan and season with cumin seeds, fennel seeds and curry leaves.

• Saute onions along with crushed ginger and garlic until it turns translucent with slightly crisp edges. (This step is a must, may take 10 minutes over medium flame)

• Now add in tomatoes and cook until mushy.

• Add in turmeric powder, Kuzhambu Milagai thool and salt. Saute for another 5 minutes until the masala powder blends well with the onion mixture. Fry till the oil separates to the sides.

• Once the masala turns dark and cooks to a soft texture add in the finely minced mushrooms and stir fry over high flame for 2 minutes. Mushrooms cook really fast and release water once its heated.

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• Saute well to blend with masala for about 2 minutes to 3 minutes or until everything thickens a bit.

• Switch off and garnish with coriander leaves.

• Serve hot as a side for Sambar, rasam or curd rice. It pairs well with suds suda steamed idlis, kal dosai and even with plain chapati!

Kuzhambu Milagai Thool – is an all purpose curry powder that can be used for all wet / semi wet curries, gravies and stir fries. It adds thickness to the gravy and dry stir fries/ varuvals. You may make this at home or use any mild sambar powder / curry powder as a substitution. Kindly adjust the quantity when adding sambar powder as its more concentrated in flavor and you may want to use less and add extra chilli & dhania powder to balance.

Mushrooms – Any mushroom will work for this recipe. White button works well as its less meaty compared to other variety and blend in with the masala.

Storage – This masala stays good for a week when refrigerated kept in a clean glass bottle. Each time take out a small quantity using a clean dry spoon and heat it up in a microwave and store the rest in the refrigerator. Adding hot oil over it before storing can extend its life.