Mushrooms -
I had gone to the local store to buy mushrooms a couple of days back. That brought back memories of the wild mushrooms that were cooked in my native place.
The wild mushrooms taste so different from the cultivated, store bought mushrooms. The wild mushrooms are small and are slippery to touch, which is not the case with the store bought mushrooms.
The wild mushrooms (called kaalaans) are seasonal and are usually found in small quantities just after the rains. At my native, when someone finds the edible mushrooms in the nearby hills, they collect them and sell it to families who are ready to buy these local mushrooms. They are cooked immediately for dinner or the very next day for breakfast.
They are delicious and have a distinct taste that is completely different from the store bought mushrooms.
Bamboo shoots -
Another local seasonal produce that is used in cooking are the tender bamboo shoots. They are called moongkuruthu in our native village. These are usually found in the nearby forest. They are found in abundant during the monsoon season.There are people who go looking for them in the forest, slice them into small circles and then sell them to people at their houses since they they cannot be sold in the open markets.
The fresh bamboo shoots are then washed in water and stored in steel containers to be used in dishes the next few days. I remember my grand father used to make the trip to our house in Chennai and to my aunt's house in Bangalore, just to give these bamboo shoots that my grand mother bought the previous day. There was a traditional curry that was made with these bamboo shoots and we all loved them.
This is one of the few recipes that is local to our native village.
The wild mushrooms taste so different from the cultivated, store bought mushrooms. The wild mushrooms are small and are slippery to touch, which is not the case with the store bought mushrooms.
The wild mushrooms (called kaalaans) are seasonal and are usually found in small quantities just after the rains. At my native, when someone finds the edible mushrooms in the nearby hills, they collect them and sell it to families who are ready to buy these local mushrooms. They are cooked immediately for dinner or the very next day for breakfast.
They are delicious and have a distinct taste that is completely different from the store bought mushrooms.
Bamboo shoots -
Another local seasonal produce that is used in cooking are the tender bamboo shoots. They are called moongkuruthu in our native village. These are usually found in the nearby forest. They are found in abundant during the monsoon season.There are people who go looking for them in the forest, slice them into small circles and then sell them to people at their houses since they they cannot be sold in the open markets.
The fresh bamboo shoots are then washed in water and stored in steel containers to be used in dishes the next few days. I remember my grand father used to make the trip to our house in Chennai and to my aunt's house in Bangalore, just to give these bamboo shoots that my grand mother bought the previous day. There was a traditional curry that was made with these bamboo shoots and we all loved them.
This is one of the few recipes that is local to our native village.
Fresh moongkuruthu -
Cooked moongkuruthu -
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