Wild forest mushrooms stewed with ginger, garlic and sesame in the minimal Khasi style — using the extraordinary variety of edible fungi collected from Meghalaya's cloud forests.
Ingredients
400g mixed wild mushrooms (or any combination of oyster, shiitake, wood ear mushrooms; if in season, Meghalayan forest mushrooms; cleaned and roughly torn)
1 inch ginger — thinly sliced
4 garlic cloves — thinly sliced
2 green chillies — slit
1 tbsp sesame seeds — dry-roasted
1 tbsp mustard oil
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp soy sauce
1/4 cup water
Salt to taste
Fresh coriander and spring onion
Method
Clean mushrooms with a damp cloth — do not wash in water unless necessary as mushrooms absorb water easily.
Tear or cut larger mushrooms into bite-sized pieces. Leave smaller ones whole.
Dry-roast sesame seeds 2 to 3 minutes until golden. Set aside.
Heat 1 tbsp mustard oil to smoking in a wide pan.
Reduce to medium-high. Add thinly sliced garlic — fry 1 minute until golden. Add sliced ginger and slit green chillies.
Add all the mushrooms. Toss on high heat — do not stir constantly; let the mushrooms brown on one side before tossing.
Add turmeric. Cook on high heat 4 to 5 minutes until mushrooms are well browned and any moisture has evaporated.
Add soy sauce and 1/4 cup water. Stir. Cook 3 minutes until the liquid reduces and coats the mushrooms.
Add dry-roasted sesame seeds. Toss.
Season with salt. Garnish with coriander and spring onion. Serve with steamed rice.