Sautéed Indian Oyster Mushroom -Vegan, Vegetarian

by Fungified Farm June 14, 2022

This week has been busy. With the weather heating up outdoor activities are on the rise as well. It is wonderful to see the kids using the swing set while I sit on my swing and enjoy the warmer weather. However, the last thing that I want to do is spend a long time in the kitchen or turn on the oven. So, I decided to experiment with this delicious new spice that I found at a farmers’ market. It is from a wonderful local company run by two friends that are related by their love of seasoning.

My idea of using a purely authentic recipe didn't work as I was missing about 10 ingredients. Also, I wanted to highlight the flavorful blend that the Spice Sisters had created. I did learn that not only is Russum a delicious spice with a rich aroma, but it is also good for healing your body when you have a cold. Given that allergies from some kind of tree have been a problem this week, I had found a win-win spice.I like that it has a little heat, but flavor is the main star. On a plus note, both my mother and my 3 year old thought it was delicious.

While I really like the Roarin’ Russum spice blend, I am including culinaryginger.com recipe in case you can’t find it at your local farmers market.

Normally I recommend dry frying all mushrooms before using them. This recipe not only marinates them in oil, but has so much oil that there will still be some in the pan when you are done with the mushrooms. I wanted a softer mushroom and I wanted the spice to permeate the oyster mushrooms so this technique worked well. I just added the vegetables to the extra oil so that they too got coated in the spice and nothing was wasted.

It is the beginning of summer and all of the fresh, local vegetables are available at the market. I had a yellow squash with the flower still attached and some fresh spinach and garlic. As I try to cook seasonally this is what I chose to use in the recipe. Feel free to substitute winter squash, green beans or other season produce for whatever time of year you decide to make this dish.