Tandoori Mushroom Tikka

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Tandoori Mushroom Tikka

Tandoori Mushroom Tikka is a popular Indian dish of spiced marinated mushrooms, grilled in a tandoor or BBQ.

Mushroom Tikka’s are spicy, juicy, and slightly smoky elevating this beautiful vegetable with Indian spices. It is served alongside lime wedges, onion salad and mint and coriander chutney. The beauty of simple ingredients, very few spices and fiery cooking method ensures this dish is world famous for its leopard-spotted char and smoky flavours.

I love mushroom and always make a mushroom based dish while doing BBQ at home. Recently my intake of mushroom has increased due to its immune supporting nutrients and high Vitamin D content. The process to make mushroom tikka is super easy- marinate the mushrooms with spices and yogurt, let it sit for a bit so that the flavours mix well together and then grill the mushrooms. There are lots of different types of readymade spices available to make tikkas, but I always find them too overpowering and somehow it gives a powdery flavour to the tikkas. Hence, I always make my own spice mix using the simple ingredients at home and the result is always flavoursome and delicious.

This is a low calorie, delicious and flavoursome tikka recipe. Serve the tikkas on its own or make a wrap.

Ingredients

Marinade
½ cup plain yogurt
1 teaspoon ginger garlic paste
Salt to taste
½ teaspoon Kashmiri red chilli powder
½ teaspoon red chilli powder
½ teaspoon garam masala
½ teaspoon dry fenugreek leaves (kasuri methi)
½ teaspoon turmeric powder (haldi)
½ teaspoon roasted cumin seeds powder (jeera powder)
1 teaspoon oil
½ teaspoon finely chopped coriander (optional)
½ teaspoon finely chopped fresh mint leaves/mint powder (optional)
300 gm mushrooms

To serve (optional)
Mint Chutney
Lime wedges
Onion salad

Directions

Step-1

Line a strainer with a muslin cloth or a double layered kitchen towel. Place the strainer on a bowl and pour the yogurt into it. Keep this in the fridge or a cool place for 1-2 hours and let all the water drain out. You will be left with thick, hung yogurt in the cloth.

Step-2

Mix all the spices and ingredients under marinade (except mushrooms) with the hung yogurt. Taste the marinade to adjust the seasoning.

Add the mushrooms and mix gently to coat the mushrooms with the marinate. Cover and set aside for at least 3-4 hours or overnight.

Step-3

Thread the mushrooms onto skewers according to size. A pack of mushrooms tends to have different sizes of mushrooms, so I always skewer them according to the size so that the cooking time is similar.

You can either grill them on a BBQ or in an oven.

BBQ- Heat the BBQ and cook the mushroom skewers turning them over to cook from all sides.

Grill- Preheat the grill to 220C/200 Fan /Gas mark 7. Place the skewers on a roasting pan lined with parchment paper and grill for 10 minutes, turning once halfway.

To Serve- Sprinkle chaat masala and serve immediately with onion salad, lime and mint chutney.

Tips & Variations

To clean the mushrooms properly, wash them in running water. Pat them dry before using.
You can use Greek yogurt if you are short of time to make hung yogurt.
You can use mustard oil, vegetable oil or olive oil for the marinate.
If you are using wooden/bamboo skewers, then soak them in water preferably overnight or for at least 2-3 hours. This will stop them burning during the cooking process.
Most restaurants add red food colour to their marinade for the iconic and eye-popping crimson colour. I prefer not to use food colouring but if you want the iconic red colour then you can add a pinch of food colouring in the marinade.
You can brush the mushroom skewers with some oil while cooking to avoid them from becoming dry.
Do not overcook the mushrooms as they then become rubbery and lose all the moisture and flavour. The mushrooms should be soft, well-cooked but also succulent.
You can use chestnut mushrooms, oyster mushrooms or portobello mushrooms. If you are using portobello mushrooms either cut them in quarters to skewer or grill the whole mushroom without skewers.
You can also marinate some diced onions and peppers with the mushrooms and skewer them with mushrooms.