V loves Indian food. He prefers it to all other cuisines. And unlike me, he is not too experimental with his food. Give him dal chawal (a rice and lentil Indian dish) 365 days of the year (366, in case its a leap year), he will be a satisfied customer.
So, when I decide to make something that would be defined “experimental” in his dictionary, I have to do a lot of planning. I have to mentally prepare him for it so that he is not caught by surprise. And if its a vegetable he doesn’t like, my task is made that much more difficult.
Now, V is not particularly crazy about mushrooms.
And if V is not particularly crazy about something, that thing will not get anywhere near him.
I, on the other hand, love mushrooms. And, alas, me being ‘the quintessential Indian wife’ (barf!) that I am, mushrooms don’t feature on our grocery list.
Well, 9 out of ten times they don’t.
But then, if V is a stubbron Taurean, I am an undaunting Capricorn. And I take things like these as challenges. As a result, there have been occasions in the past where I have tried to get him to eat mushrooms- the spinach & mushroom fettuccine and Mushroom Pesto Pizza being examples of the aforementioned occasions. And, since I am the one who cooks everything, he is left with no choice but to eat.
Either that or he has to go hungry.
Like I mentioned, I am the quintessential Indian wife.
So, when these baby bellas that had been lying in the refrigerator, were on the verge of going bad, I was made to test my undaunting nature once again.
I turned to foodgawker and saw this.
Yup, garlic-mushroom soup was what I was going to make!
So I set off with the planning yesterday. V was informed of my decision and obviously, was not too happy with it. But the diplomat Taurean tried his best to not show it. His bad luck! *Who told him to be so nice!*
Anyway, I went ahead with the plan and made it for lunch today.
A couple of bites into the soup, this is how our conversation went:
The Undaunting Quintessential Indian wife: So, what’s your opinion on mushrooms now?
The diplomatic, stubborn, picky Taurean husband: Hmmmm, at least now I know I can order mushroom soup next time we go out.
The Undaunting Quintessential Indian wife: (triumphant smile)
SPICY GARLIC MUSHROOM SOUP
The soup has some heat to it thanks to the dried red chilli pepper I used. The original recipe calls for drizzling some hot chile oil, but it had enough heat, so I skipped that part. I used baby bellas, but button mushrooms would do- that’s what the original recipe calls for. The color and flavor will change accordingly. I have used oregano here, since my garden is overflowing with it, but feel free to substitute it with thyme.
Adapted from here
Serves 3
Ingredients
- 8 oz baby bellas, sliced
- 5-6 cloves garlic, finely chopped ( roasted garlic would also do)
- 2 tsp extra virgin olive oil, divided
- 2 tsp unsalted butter, divided
- 1 medium onion (about 1 cup), finely chopped
- 2-3 dried red chilli, crushed
- 2 tbsp flour
- 1 cup milk, divided
- 2 cups water (stock would also do- I used water)
Directions
- Heat 1 tsp EVOO and 1 tsp butter. Sauté the garlic till golden.
- Add the mushrooms, cook till roasted and light brown in color. Remove from heat and set aside in a bowl.
- In the same pan, add butter and olive oil, 1 tsp each. Saute till translucent.
- Add oregano leaves, pepper, kosher salt and crushed dried red chilli. Cook on medium heat for 5 minutes.
- Add the flour and cook for a few seconds.
- Add 1/2 cup milk and let simmer for 2-3 minutes.
- Add 3/4 of the mushrooms and let cook for another 3-4 minutes. This here is a great cream sauce to put on bread and eat like that.
- Switch off the heat and transfer everything to a blender and carefully blend till it is pureed (the sauce is hot, so let a little steam escape before closing the lid of the blender).
- Return to the pan, add rest of the milk, water and the rest of the mushrooms. Simmer at low for about 10 more minutes. Remove from heat and squirt a teensy bit of lemon juice.
- Ladle into individual bowls. Generously drizzle the Spicy Oil on the soup, if you want to.
- You can also garnish with crushed Pepper, scallions and thyme, if you want to.
I am glad you tried this out and even happier that it changed someone’s mind, for it did not change my husband’s views on mushrooms. He did not even try this out! 🙂 well does not matter.. I love it and I love mushrooms.
Hi there, stopping by for the first time. This soup looks lovely – I’m a big fan of mushroom soups and am happy to stumble on a new recipe!
Soma’s recipe always rocks and inspired me many many times! This is one soup I never tried and Arvind loves Mushroom soup. I am saving it to give a try 🙂
This soup looks and sounds amazing, Shumalia! I think I’m going to make this on the first day of Fall! So warm and comforting, not to mention, gorgeous photos! BTW, loving the lotus root curry below! Another keeper!
I am going to try this soon!!! i love mushrooms and M hates them…..
I LOVE baby bellas, and when you added the chili and oregano, well that’s just perfect! Can’t wait to try this!
Mushroom soup never looked prettier.
I’m happy with your soup as our family all love mushroom soup. This makes a perfect chowder that will ignite a good lunch or dinner.
Hehehehehehe
You really made me laugh Shumaila
You remind me of my husband and myself..
congrats on your triumph 🙂 and thanx for the amazing soup
Pingback: Pineapple Orange Ginger Cake «
Pingback: Caramelized Onions, Mushrooms and Gruyere Tartlets «
Great information. Lucky me I came across your site by chance (stumbleupon). I’ve book-marked it for later!
Spicy + Garlic = I love it !!!
I was looking for a good mushroom soup recipe and finally found this.
This is marvelous. My hubby also love it. I send the recipe to few friends and they also love it. This has become a regular meal in our days now.
Thank you very much for the wonderful recipe. If you know, please post the recipe of a tasty mix vegetable soup also.
Thanks.
I am glad you liked it:). Your request for a vegetable soup recipe is duly noted:)
So dear Undaunting Quintessential Indian wife, your V reminds me of my dad, who is an undaunting Indian husband. I loved the recipe btw. So making it as a surprise for my boyfriend tonight!
Tua recently posted..That’s All He Said
I hope your boyfriend is surprised (in a good way! 🙂 )
I was craving for an easy at the same time delicious mushroom soup. I didn’t have butter and EVOO. So I substituted those with ghee and vegetable oil. Still the soup turned out to be great. My husband and I wiped it off. Thank you for sharing this recipe!
Amazing blog! Can be your theme customized or would you download it from somewhere?
A design like yours with some simple adjustements would really
make my blog shine. Please tell me the place you got your design.
Cheers
ReyDJanzen recently posted..ReyDJanzen