If mushrooms in a spiced avatar sound exciting to you, you will love Mushroom Pepper Fry, a dish to brighten your day and your taste buds. Protein-packed mushrooms with their earthy taste provide the perfect hearty foil to the robust flavours in this mushroom pepper fry recipe. This vegetarian and vegan-friendly dish is also ideal for those looking for a meat-alternative. Mushroom pepper fry restaurant style is perfect if you like no-fuss meals that can be cooked easily and quickly. Whether you’re cooking for yourself or to impress, quickly jump to our Mushroom Pepper fry recipe right here.
This South Indian style mushroom pepper fry can be enjoyed with chapatis or Malabar parotta or as a side with dal and rice.
To make mushroom pepper fry you need Indian pantry staples such as black mustard seeds, cumin seeds, dried red chillies. You also need onion, garlic and ginger pastes, button mushrooms, coriander powder, turmeric powder, fresh curry leaves, freshly ground black pepper, and fennel powder (saunf). The other ingredients needed are salt, oil, and ghee (optional).
▲ Delicious Mushroom Pepper Fry should be eaten hot and fresh.
Mushroom Pepper Fry restaurant style is a dish of mushrooms sautéed in an onion-garlic-ginger masala and other spices with black pepper as the star ingredient. The other spices and herbs used in the dish such as mustard seeds and curry leaves are the hallmark of South Indian style cooking. This mushroom pepper fry recipe yields a meaty, slightly spicy dish which one just cannot get enough of. On the seldom occasion that there are leftovers of this dish at home, I love adding it as a filling for sandwiches for breakfast the next morning…the kids enjoy it.
Some variations of the mushroom pepper fry found in restaurants across South Indian include the egg pepper fry, pepper chicken, pepper mutton among many others.
Or see all our Vegetarian Recipes right here.
Black pepper originated in Kerala in South India and has been used and exported for over 4000 years. Black peppercorns grow as a flowering vine and have been used in Indian cooking since 2000 BCE. Back in the day this much prized spice was called 'black gold' and was used as currency for trade. Black peppercorns are sharp, spicy, and hot with a musty and muted aroma. It is an integral part of cooking in India with generous amounts being used in several dishes. It was the primary spice for adding heat to dishes in Indian cuisine until the introduction of chillies by the Portuguese.
▲ Sauté the whole spices, red chillies, and onion till the onion turns brown
Mushrooms are considered a superfood which contains B Vitamins, riboflavin, copper, and potassium. They are also rich in Vitamin D. Mushrooms also contain ergothioneine, a naturally occurring antioxidant which is good for immunity.
▲ Tip mushrooms into the pan without crowding them and sauté
We have used button mushrooms for this dish as they are the most commonly used type of mushroom in India, and they’re used in South India to prepare this dish. They are easily available at neighbourhood vegetable vendors. If you wish you can swap button mushrooms with cremini or oyster mushrooms. You may have to adjust the cooking time to suit the variety of mushroom you are using. I highly recommend you make this dish using button mushrooms at least once.
▲ Add curry leaves to the sautéed mushrooms followed by black pepper.
How to clean mushrooms: Mushrooms are extremely porous and hence should never be washed or soaked in water. You can remove the dirt on them by brushing it off with a vegetable brush and then wiping each mushroom with a paper towel. If, however, you are uncomfortable about not having washed them, you can use a damp paper towel to gently wipe them.
▲ Add ghee, if using, right at the end of cooking, Stir for a minute then remove from heat
You need to ensure that you cook the mushrooms in a wide pan which can accommodate all the mushrooms in a single layer. Additionally, the pan must be very hot. This will ensure that the mushrooms do not release too much water, or else they will end up being steamed in their own juices instead of being stir-fried or sautéed.
▲ Transfer to serving dishes and serve mushroom pepper fry hot.
If you cannot tolerate spicy food, I would suggest omitting the red chillies used in our mushroom pepper fry recipe below. If you still find it spicy, then reduce the quantity of black pepper being used.
Ghee is used towards the end of the cooking process for flavour. But if you are vegan or prefer not to use ghee for any reason you can omit it without having a huge impact on the final flavour.
▲ Enjoy mushroom pepper fry with chapatis or rice.
Garnish mushroom pepper fry with some fried curry leaves and place them in the center of your dish. Or garnish with fresh coriander leaves. Serve the dish hot with chapatis or Malabar parotta or enjoy it as a side with dal and rice. One can also serve it as an appetizer.
▲ Mushroom Pepper Fry is the perfect dish to brighten your day and fire up your taste buds.
To make a variation of mushroom pepper fry you can swap the mushrooms with boiled baby potatoes or paneer. You can even add sliced onions and capsicums to the same recipe for an added layer of flavours and textures.
▲ Protein-packed mushrooms provide the perfect foil to the robust flavours of this recipe.
Learn how to make a delicious mushroom pepper fry at home by following our easy step by step photos or follow the detailed mushroom pepper fry video recipe which handholds you through the process. Find the easiest way to make this recipe, its simple ingredients, and top tricks to make it right here.