Do you know what a Kadai mushroom is? The dish name comes from the fact that the recipe uses a Kadai, or a wok used in Indian cuisine. Many dishes we know and love are made with a Kadai. In this case, the mushrooms are the stars of the show, so I decided to name this dish after them as well.
This Kadai Mushroom Is A Perfect Dish For This Weekend

What do I need to make this dish?
As you can imagine, the Kadai mushroom dish contains traditional Indian ingredients. A Kadai masala is very aromatic and can accompany vegetables, legumes, or any other sauces.
To make the Kadai gravy, you will need coriander seeds, red chilies, green cardamom, and fennel seeds. You can replace some of these with coriander, dry cardamom, cumin, and dill seeds.
When cooking this dish, make sure you have oil, ginger, fenugreek leaves, garam masala, turmeric, chili powder, a large onion, tomatoes, bell peppers, mushrooms, and coriander leaves. You can substitute some of these with dry ginger, curry powder, paprika, canned tomatoes, red onion, and your mushrooms of choice. I recommend using button mushrooms, but you can try shiitake, maitake, or oyster mushrooms.
You will also need to mix everything into a fine powder that you will sauté with freshly grated ginger. This sauce is meant to infuse your other ingredients with a lot of flavors, so you will need to add your vegetables as well. If the mixture gets too thick, you can always add a little water to the pan.
For a different dish, add potatoes, peas, carrots, or celery. Serve your tasty mushroom gravy with white rice or rice noodles. In some cases, I have even served this meal with cashews or peanuts.
Try the recipe out this weekend and enjoy a new kind of meal!
Kadai Mushroom
Ingredients
1 1/2 tbsp oil
1-1 1/2 tsp ginger, finely chopped
1/2 tsp kasuri methi or dried fenugreek leaves
1/2 tsp garam masala
1/8 tsp turmeric
1/4 tsp red chili powder
1 large onion, finely chopped (optional)
1 cup (128 g) tomatoes, finely chopped or pureed
1/4-1/2 cup (32-64 g) capsicum or bell pepper, sliced
1 1/2 cup (192 g) mushrooms, sliced
1 small onion, diced and layers separated
handful of coriander leaves, chopped
- To powder or coarsely crush
3-4 red chilis
1 tbsp coriander seeds
1/4-1/2 tsp fennel seeds (saunf, sombu)
1 green cardamom
Directions
- Powder red chilis, coriander seeds, and fennel seeds using a mixer jar.
- Heat oil in a pan, then add chopped onion and saute until golden. If you want to save time, you can skip the onion.
- Add ground kadai masala powder. Saute on low heat until it becomes aromatic and the raw smell of the spices is completely gone.
- Add ginger and saute for another 30-40 seconds, or until it becomes aromatic.
- Add tomatoes, salt, and turmeric. Saute for a couple of minutes, then cover and cook until tomatoes turn mushy.
- Check the taste at this point, and add more chili if you want it to be more spicy.
- Pour 1/4 cup (60 ml) water and cook until the masala thickens.
- Add mushrooms, diced onions, bell pepper, garam masala, and Kasuri methi. Stir-fry for about 3-4 minutes, until the aroma of the onions is neutralized.
- Cover and let cook on low heat until mushrooms become tender. If the veggies get too dry, sprinkle a little bit of water and adjust the taste accordingly.
- Garnish with chopped coriander and grated ginger.
- Serve and enjoy!
Looking to try another deliciously savory mushroom recipe? Why not try this Spicy Shiitake Larb recipe?