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Indian Mushrooms and Peas in the Slow Cooker in a Cashew Sauce

Nawabi Guchhi Mattar (Royal Mushrooms and Peas in Cashew Nut Sauce) in the Slow Cooker

Adapted from Prerna Singh
Course Side Dish
Cuisine Curry, Indian
Author TheSpicedLife

Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup roasted cashews (salted is fine)
  • water as needed
  • 3 T vegetable oil
  • 2 green cardamom pods
  • 1 black cardamom pod
  • 2 whole cloves
  • 1 2-inch stick Ceylon cinnamon
  • 1 medium red onion, finely chopped
  • 4 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1/4 t paprika
  • 1/4 t New Mexico chile powder
  • 1 t ground coriander
  • 1 lb crimini mushrooms, sliced
  • 1/4 cup 1-2% milk
  • 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
  • 1/2 cup low fat Greek yogurt
  • salt to taste
  • 1 10-oz bag frozen peas, thawed

Instructions

  1. Soak the cashews in water for 20 minutes.
  2. Drain the cashews. Grind to a paste--I used my wet dry grinder; Singh claimed a food processor would work. Add water by the tablespoon as needed to get it to grind. Set aside.
  3. Using either a cooktop-safe slow cooker insert or a frying pan, heat a pan over medium high heat with the vegetable oil and whole spices. Fry, stirring occasionally, until the cinnamon starts to unfurl and the spices are quite fragrant, about 2-3 minutes.
  4. Add the chopped onion with a pinch of salt. Stir occasionally and let the onions caramelize, for about 10 minutes. Keep some water by your cooktop--if the onions start to stick or scorch, sprinkle a little water into the pan.
  5. Add the garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, for another 5 minutes.
  6. Add the ground spices and stir to incorporate. Cook for 30-60 seconds, stirring, until the spices are fragrant.
  7. Add the reserved cashew paste. Stir to incorporate. If you had to add a lot of water to the cashew paste, let it cook off now. When the pan is drier, add the mushrooms and stir them in. Cook for 1 minute.
  8. Whisk together the milk, cream and yogurt briefly.
  9. If you are using a separate pan, scrape the ingredients into the slow cooker.
  10. Mix the dairy mixture into the mushrooms in the slow cooker. Place the insert onto the slow cooker and cook on high for 1 hour or low for 2 hours.
  11. minutes before serving, mix the peas into the dish.
  12. Serve with Basmati rice or flatbread and other Indian dishes (the mushrooms are too rich to be the sole entree in my opinion).