Mushroom Kola Urundai/Savory Mushroom Bites

Kola Urundai is one of the traditional recipes from Chettinad cuisine that makes many drool over. Now how kola urundai made with mutton/minced lamb is gonna feature in a vegetarian blog? Well it’s gonna transform into mushroom kola urundai just so even vegetarians can get a bite of this drool worthy dish. Having said that it’s a drool worthy dish the looks may not be that inviting but sure when you take a bit you ll get to know what I mean.

Ingredients:

Button Mushrooms-250gms

Onion-1, finely chopped

Mint leaves-1/4 cup (optional)

Coriander leaves-2 tbsp, finely chopped

Curry leaves-1 sprig

Turmeric powder-1/4 tsp

Salt-as needed

Oil-For frying

To Roast & Grind:

Dried red chilies-3

Green chilies-2

Black Peppercorns-1/2 tsp

Cumin seeds-1/4 tsp

Fennel Seeds- 1 tsp

Cinnamon/cassia bark-1/2 inch stick

Clove-1

Cardamom-1

Cashews-3 (optional)

Poppy seeds-1/2 tsp (optional)

Ginger- inch piece

Garlic-3 pods

Shallots-5, peeled

Roasted Gram dal/Pottu kadalai-2 tbsp

Coconut-1/4 cup

Heat a tsp of oil in a pan, add all the ingredients one by one and roast until they waft nice aroma. Switch off the flame and let it cool.

How it Happened:

1. Clean the mushrooms and chop them roughly. Heat a tsp of oil in a pan and add the chopped mushrooms and cook in medium flame. The mushroom will leach out all the water. Now increase the flame and cook until the mushrooms are dry and all the water has evaporated. Switch off the flame and let it cool.

2. As mentioned under ‘to roast and grind’ roast all the ingredients and when they are cool, add them to the blender and just blitz them once. To this add the roasted mushrooms and grind it a coarse paste. Do not add water at any stage. The water in some ingredients will be good enough to make a coarse paste.

3. Transfer the mixture to a bowl, add in salt, turmeric powder, coriander & mint leaves and chopped onion and mix it well with the mixture.

4. Divide the mixture into equal sized portions forming balls.

5. Heat enough oil in a pan, to deep fry. When the oil is hot, slide in 3-4 balls at a time and let it cook in medium flame for 2 minutes. Do not disturb immediately after adding the balls as they may break and dissolve.

6. Now turn the sides so that they get cooked evenly. When they are crispy and golden brown, drain from the oil and transfer to kitchen tissue.

7. Serve hot with green chutney/ketchup.

Notes:

* Do not add water while grinding else the kola urundai will start absorbing oil and will be soggy and taste oily.

* While frying, regulate the heat and maintain the temperature else the kola urundai will be raw inside and will be brownish and burnt outside. Also they won’t turn crisp.

* Usually they are crisp whey they are hot. After sometime they become soft outside but still taste great. Actually I like them that way.

* You can make tomato gravy and drop these in them just before serving, for kola urundai gravy.