Hot and Sour Mushroom Gravy: (Chinese Style)

Ingredients:

Button mushroom 250-500 gms - each halved
Green chilies 3 sliced
Green bell pepper 2 large - diced
White onions 2 large - diced
Tomato puree 3-4 cups
Soy sauce 1/2 cup
Tomato sauce 1/2 cup
Fine corn flour 1-2 spoons
Salt as per taste
Ajino motto(mono sodium glucamate) 1 pinch
Ground cloves 1/4 spoon
Ground fennel seeds 1/4 spoon
Ground cinnamon 1/4 spoon
Grated dry red chilies 1/2 spoon
Chili powder 1/2 - 1 spoon
Grated fresh ginger from 2" size
Grated garlic from 3-4 cloves
Finely chopped spring onions/green onions 1 cup
Sesame oil/olive oil/any vegetable oil.

Method:

Take a wide pan. Preferably non-stick. Add oil to it.

When the oil is hot, add your ground spices to it........Cinnamon, cloves, fennel seeds. Fry them for few seconds.

Then add grated dry red chilies, chili powder, grated garlic and ginger too. Fry them real good. Until all the raw smell leaves.

When it is fragrant, add tomato puree, tomato sauce and soy sauce to it. Fry them too. Do not cover them with lid. Let the stove be in medium to high heat. The puree will be bubbling real good.....turns into shiny red color, oil comes in top.

This is the right time to add your mushrooms in here. Stir them to get well incorporated with the mixture you made. Maybe one could cover with lid now. Turn it into medium. Let the mushroom get cooked with its own moisture in it as well as the tomato gravy.

When the mushroom reduced in size and got cooked.....and at the same time....gravy should also come to thickening stage. The oil shows up at the sides.

So....now add your finishing touch. That is.....add diced onions, sliced green chilies and bell peppers to it. Stir in properly.....still over medium heat.

The onions, chilies and bell peppers should not be cooked for long in this recipe. Just another 2 minutes.

When it is all done. Turn off your stove. Then add green onions/spring onions to the this. Mix them thoroughly.

Serve this gravy with rice or any plain noodles.

Variation: One can use ready to use 'asian 5 spice powder' or 'indian garam masala' in place of all ground spices I said above. It still tastes similar.