Goan Mushroom and Broad beans Xacuti

When I first started this blog, it seemed like my love for cooking and the happiness my cooking brought to others would carry on forever. Alas life happened, moving countries and the joy of motherhood with not 1 but 2 boys, has obviously got in my way. While my cooking continued to bring happiness to the people around me, I wasn't able to share my recipes with you. 

Today we live in an unfortunate and scary world with the virus and the lock-down, but the silver lining has helped me reunite me back with my kitchen, my blog and most importantly my followers!! ☺☺

Now let's get this show on the road with the first recipe after 5 long years:
Mushroom and Broad Beans Xacuti. This is a Goan dish which typically uses mushrooms and potatoes as its main ingredients but I decided to substitute the potatoes with broad beans, to give it an extra punch of protein. Thank you Varna for this delicious recipe which has quickly become our family favorite!! 

Ingredients:

To make paste:

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

3 cloves

1/2 inch cinnamon 

1 bay leaf

1 cup grated coconut 

1 small onion 

1 large tomato chopped into chunks 

turmeric powder 

1 green chili 

1 tsp oil

Main recipe:

500 gm chopped mushrooms 

1/2 cup broad beans (soaked overnight) 

1 tsp butter 

5-6 cloves garlic finely chopped

1/2 tsp oil

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

1/4 cup cilantro finely chopped 

Method: 

1. Take a shallow pan and heat. 

2. Add butter and once it melts add finely chopped garlic and saute for 2 minutes. 

3. Add mushroom and saute with a little salt to taste and transfer into a bowl. 

4. Pressure cook broad beans for 3 whistles until cooked. Remove from heat and set aside. 

5. In the same pan, add oil and heat. 

6. Add cumin seeds, when it splutters add cloves, cinnamon, bay leaf and saute for a minute. 

7. Add chopped onions and saute for a 2-3 minutes until translucent. 

8. Add chopped tomatoes, sprinkle salt and saute  for 2 minutes. 

9. Add green chili and saute until tomatoes are cooked. 

10. Set aside to cool and then grind with grated coconut in a mixer to make a puree. 

11. Take a shallow bottom pan and add 1/2 tsp oil. 

12. Add cumin seeds and wait for them to splutter. 

13. Add paste and let it cook until the oil separates from the paste. 

14. Add broad beans, add a pinch of salt and mix, then add the mushrooms and mix well. 

15. Add 1/2 cup water and bring to a boil. 

16. Sprinkle finely chopped cilantro leaves and mix. Taste and add salt to taste. 

Tips:

1. The broad beans in the recipe are options, you can substitute it for potatoes which is what the original recipe calls for. 

2. Do not cook the mushrooms for too long when you saute them in butter since they will be cooked again in the gravy. 

3. This goes really well with hot chapatis, phulkas, naan or kulchas. 

4. You can add more green chilis to increase the spice level of the dish, Another alternative is to add chili powder to step 13.