As mentioned there are two main ways to prepare Chinese-inspired Indian chilli mushrooms. Both versions are quite simple to make and are wonderful to enjoy with roti or naan. I suggest you give both recipes a try and see which one you prefer!
About Chilli Mushroom Dry
Mushrooms are made every week at my home. I simply adore the tender texture and savory, earthy flavor of mushrooms, and have posted many Mushroom Recipes on the blog – like Mushroom 65 and Mushroom Manchurian. Dry chilli mushroom is one of my favorite snack recipes. Fresh pieces of mushrooms are lightly battered and shallow fried to golden brown. They are sautéed with vibrant aromatics and spicy green chiles, then served piping hot and crispy – to be enjoyed with your favorite dipping sauce. In fact these are so good, you can fill them in a tortilla or roti to make Burrito or a wrap with an assortment of flavorful toppings or make sandwiches, sliders or burgers. They are so delicious.
How to make Mushroom Chilli
You can make this recipe with button mushrooms or baby portabella mushrooms. I have used both. Both these mushroom varieties work well here.
Make Batter Fried Mushrooms
- First, prep all your ingredients and have them ready to go. You need to move quickly when stir frying, so it’s best to that everything be prepared. Rinse or wipe dry the 200 to 250 grams button mushrooms.
- Trim the stalks and quarter the mushrooms if larger in size. You can halve if medium-sized and keep the smaller ones whole and intact. Set the mushrooms aside.
- In a medium shallow bowl add 5 to 6 tablespoons whole wheat flour (or all-purpose flour) and 3 tablespoons cornstarch.
- Season with ¼ to ½ teaspoon crushed black pepper and salt to taste.
- Add ¼ to ⅓ cup of water.
- Whisk to combine so that you have a flowing medium-consistency batter.
- Heat oil for shallow frying in a kadai, deep pan, or wok. Use a fork to dip each mushroom slice in the batter and coat evenly with the batter.
- Add the battered mushrooms to the medium hot oil. Ensure that the heat is medium to medium-high while shallow frying.
- Fry until one side becomes crisp and light golden. Then turn over and fry the second side. Continue to flip back and forth a few times until the mushrooms are evenly golden and crisp.
- Fry the mushrooms in batches, and transfer the fried mushrooms to a paper towel to drain any excess oil.
Stir Fry Aromatics
- In another heavy wok or pan or skillet, heat ½ tablespoon toasted sesame oil. Add spring onion whites or green onions ((1 to 2), and ¼ cup chopped capsicum/bell pepper cubes. TIP: Feel free to swap toasted sesame oil with any neutral tasting oil. NOTE: The spring onion whites can be halved if smaller in size or quartered if medium-sized and the layers removed. Reserve the greens for garnish.
- Stir fry on medium or high heat for a minute to soften.
- Add 1 teaspoon finely chopped ginger, 2 teaspoon finely chopped garlic and 2 to 3 green chilies that have been slit or sliced.
- Stir fry on a high heat until you see the onions getting browned at the edges. If the heat becomes too much then reduce it and continue to stir-fry.
- Reduce the heat and add 1 tablespoon soy sauce.
- Add salt according to taste, ½ to 1 teaspoon sugar and crushed black pepper as required.
- Mix and stir fry for half a minute or so.
Make Chilli Mushroom
- Now add the fried batter-coated mushrooms, and stir on a low to medium heat.
- Sprinkle about ½ to ¾ teaspoon corn starch and 1 to 2 teaspoons of water on the mushrooms. This creates a light, slightly thick gravy that coats the fried mushrooms with flavor.
- Sauté for a minute or two and continue to stir until a nice glaze forms on the mushrooms.
- Turn off the heat and serve the chili mushroom hot garnished with 1 to 2 tablespoons of chopped spring onion greens.
About Instant Pot Version
This is a really quick method to make Chinese style spicy and delicious chilli mushroom in the instant pot. The cooking time is about 10 minutes right from start to finish. Include 5 to 10 minutes of chopping the ingredients and a tasty Chinese style meal is ready within 15 to 20 minutes. Instead of thinking of ordering a takeaway or going to the nearby Chinese restaurant, prepare this chilli mushroom gravy at home. You won’t regret. After getting the instant pot, I make many recipes in it such as this one. Hence I have updated this chilli mushroom recipe with the instant pot method. This recipe is very simple and easy. You don’t need to prepare any batter and fry the mushrooms. The mushrooms are sauteed first, sauces are added and then cooked. This is a healthier version of chilli mushroom as they are not fried. Most of the times I make food which is quick and easy to prepare. Some Indian recipes are time-consuming but at times all I want is to make something quick for our rumbling tummies. At times it is best to make some quick Chinese style recipes. Yes quick ones, not the ones which have extensive chopping and preparation like a Veg Manchurian or Gobi Manchurian. This chilly mushroom gravy is spicy as together with the green chillies, I have also added red chilli sauce. You can decrease the number of green chillies and red chilli sauce if you want less heat and spice. Serve instant pot chilli mushroom with fried rice, Veg Noodles, fettuccine pasta or even dinner rolls or bread. Dinner rolls or bread just soak up the spicy, sour, sweet, umami sauce and taste yum. You can also serve with naan or roti and steamed rice.
How to make Instant Pot Chilli Mushroom
Prepare Sauce Mixture
- Firstly in a small bowl, take 1 tablespoon bragg’s liquid aminos or 2 teaspoons soy sauce, 2 teaspoons red chilli sauce, 2 teaspoons green chilli sauce and 1 teaspoon rice vinegar or apple cider vinegar or white vinegar.
- Add ¼ to ½ teaspoon crushed black pepper, ¼ teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon sugar.
- Mix very well and keep aside.
Cook In Instant Pot
- Switch on the instant pot. Press the sauté button on less mode for 7 to 8 minutes.
- Let it display hot and then add 2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil.
- Add ½ tablespoon finely chopped garlic, ½ tablespoon finely chopped ginger and 2 to 3 green chillies, slit or diagonally sliced.
- Sauté on low for 1 to 2 minutes.
- Add ¼ cup chopped scallions (only the white part) or spring onion whites and 1 teaspoon finely chopped celery – optional.
- Press sauté again and set to normal. Sauté scallions for minute.
- Add chopped mushrooms (200 to 250 grams) and ⅓ cup sliced green bell pepper (capsicum).
- Sauté for 2 minutes stirring often. If the onions, ginger and garlic, etc start sticking at the bottom, then change the sauté setting to less.
- Add the sauce mixture which we had prepared earlier.
- Mix very well.
- Add ½ cup water or vegetable stock. Stir well.
- Cancel the sauté mode. Secure the instant pot with its lid and position the steam release handle to sealing. Press the pressure cook button on high pressure and set the timer for 5 minutes.
Make Corn Starch Slurry
- Meanwhile take 2 teaspoons tapioca starch or corn starch or potato starch and 1 tablespoon water in a small bowl.
- Mix very well and keep aside.
Make Instant Pot Mushroom Chilli
- After 5 minutes, do a quick pressure release and then open the lid.
- Stir the prepared slurry and add it to the mushrooms.
- Mix again very well.
- Press sauté button again on normal mode for 1 to 2 minutes.
- Let the sauce simmer for 1 to 2 minutes or more till the sauce or gravy thickens and the rawness of the starch is not felt. If the sauce becomes too thick add some hot water.
- Once the sauce gets thickened, press the cancel button. Sprinkle some scallion greens or spring onion greens. Stir and mix. Check the seasonings and add bragg’s liquid amino or soy sauce, sugar, salt or crushed black pepper more if required.
- Serve chilli mushroom gravy hot with bread rolls, fried rice, noodles or fettuccine pasta. Garnish with some finely chopped scallion greens while serving. Please be sure to rate the recipe in the recipe card or leave a comment below if you have made it. For more vegetarian inspirations, Sign Up for my emails or follow me on Instagram, Youtube, Facebook, Pinterest or Twitter. This post contains amazon affiliate links. As an amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
▢ 1 tablespoon bragg’s liquid aminos or 2 teaspoons soy sauce – add less or more as you prefer▢ 2 teaspoons red chilli sauce▢ 2 teaspoons green chilli sauce▢ 1 teaspoon rice vinegar or apple cider vinegar or white vinegar▢ ¼ to ½ teaspoon freshly crushed black pepper or ground black pepper or white pepper▢ ½ teaspoon sugar or add as required▢ ¼ teaspoon salt or add as required
▢ 2 teaspoons tapioca starch or corn starch or potato starch ▢ 1 tablespoon water
This chilli mushroom post from the archives, first published in Dec 2014 has been republished and updated on 19 November 2021.
title: “Chilli Mushroom Stovetop Instant Pot " ShowToc: true date: “2024-10-10” author: “Jimmy Shellenbarger”
As mentioned there are two main ways to prepare Chinese-inspired Indian chilli mushrooms. Both versions are quite simple to make and are wonderful to enjoy with roti or naan. I suggest you give both recipes a try and see which one you prefer!
About Chilli Mushroom Dry
Mushrooms are made every week at my home. I simply adore the tender texture and savory, earthy flavor of mushrooms, and have posted many Mushroom Recipes on the blog – like Mushroom 65 and Mushroom Manchurian. Dry chilli mushroom is one of my favorite snack recipes. Fresh pieces of mushrooms are lightly battered and shallow fried to golden brown. They are sautéed with vibrant aromatics and spicy green chiles, then served piping hot and crispy – to be enjoyed with your favorite dipping sauce. In fact these are so good, you can fill them in a tortilla or roti to make Burrito or a wrap with an assortment of flavorful toppings or make sandwiches, sliders or burgers. They are so delicious.
How to make Mushroom Chilli
You can make this recipe with button mushrooms or baby portabella mushrooms. I have used both. Both these mushroom varieties work well here.
Make Batter Fried Mushrooms
- First, prep all your ingredients and have them ready to go. You need to move quickly when stir frying, so it’s best to that everything be prepared. Rinse or wipe dry the 200 to 250 grams button mushrooms.
- Trim the stalks and quarter the mushrooms if larger in size. You can halve if medium-sized and keep the smaller ones whole and intact. Set the mushrooms aside.
- In a medium shallow bowl add 5 to 6 tablespoons whole wheat flour (or all-purpose flour) and 3 tablespoons cornstarch.
- Season with ¼ to ½ teaspoon crushed black pepper and salt to taste.
- Add ¼ to ⅓ cup of water.
- Whisk to combine so that you have a flowing medium-consistency batter.
- Heat oil for shallow frying in a kadai, deep pan, or wok. Use a fork to dip each mushroom slice in the batter and coat evenly with the batter.
- Add the battered mushrooms to the medium hot oil. Ensure that the heat is medium to medium-high while shallow frying.
- Fry until one side becomes crisp and light golden. Then turn over and fry the second side. Continue to flip back and forth a few times until the mushrooms are evenly golden and crisp.
- Fry the mushrooms in batches, and transfer the fried mushrooms to a paper towel to drain any excess oil.
Stir Fry Aromatics
- In another heavy wok or pan or skillet, heat ½ tablespoon toasted sesame oil. Add spring onion whites or green onions ((1 to 2), and ¼ cup chopped capsicum/bell pepper cubes. TIP: Feel free to swap toasted sesame oil with any neutral tasting oil. NOTE: The spring onion whites can be halved if smaller in size or quartered if medium-sized and the layers removed. Reserve the greens for garnish.
- Stir fry on medium or high heat for a minute to soften.
- Add 1 teaspoon finely chopped ginger, 2 teaspoon finely chopped garlic and 2 to 3 green chilies that have been slit or sliced.
- Stir fry on a high heat until you see the onions getting browned at the edges. If the heat becomes too much then reduce it and continue to stir-fry.
- Reduce the heat and add 1 tablespoon soy sauce.
- Add salt according to taste, ½ to 1 teaspoon sugar and crushed black pepper as required.
- Mix and stir fry for half a minute or so.
Make Chilli Mushroom
- Now add the fried batter-coated mushrooms, and stir on a low to medium heat.
- Sprinkle about ½ to ¾ teaspoon corn starch and 1 to 2 teaspoons of water on the mushrooms. This creates a light, slightly thick gravy that coats the fried mushrooms with flavor.
- Sauté for a minute or two and continue to stir until a nice glaze forms on the mushrooms.
- Turn off the heat and serve the chili mushroom hot garnished with 1 to 2 tablespoons of chopped spring onion greens.
About Instant Pot Version
This is a really quick method to make Chinese style spicy and delicious chilli mushroom in the instant pot. The cooking time is about 10 minutes right from start to finish. Include 5 to 10 minutes of chopping the ingredients and a tasty Chinese style meal is ready within 15 to 20 minutes. Instead of thinking of ordering a takeaway or going to the nearby Chinese restaurant, prepare this chilli mushroom gravy at home. You won’t regret. After getting the instant pot, I make many recipes in it such as this one. Hence I have updated this chilli mushroom recipe with the instant pot method. This recipe is very simple and easy. You don’t need to prepare any batter and fry the mushrooms. The mushrooms are sauteed first, sauces are added and then cooked. This is a healthier version of chilli mushroom as they are not fried. Most of the times I make food which is quick and easy to prepare. Some Indian recipes are time-consuming but at times all I want is to make something quick for our rumbling tummies. At times it is best to make some quick Chinese style recipes. Yes quick ones, not the ones which have extensive chopping and preparation like a Veg Manchurian or Gobi Manchurian. This chilly mushroom gravy is spicy as together with the green chillies, I have also added red chilli sauce. You can decrease the number of green chillies and red chilli sauce if you want less heat and spice. Serve instant pot chilli mushroom with fried rice, Veg Noodles, fettuccine pasta or even dinner rolls or bread. Dinner rolls or bread just soak up the spicy, sour, sweet, umami sauce and taste yum. You can also serve with naan or roti and steamed rice.
How to make Instant Pot Chilli Mushroom
Prepare Sauce Mixture
- Firstly in a small bowl, take 1 tablespoon bragg’s liquid aminos or 2 teaspoons soy sauce, 2 teaspoons red chilli sauce, 2 teaspoons green chilli sauce and 1 teaspoon rice vinegar or apple cider vinegar or white vinegar.
- Add ¼ to ½ teaspoon crushed black pepper, ¼ teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon sugar.
- Mix very well and keep aside.
Cook In Instant Pot
- Switch on the instant pot. Press the sauté button on less mode for 7 to 8 minutes.
- Let it display hot and then add 2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil.
- Add ½ tablespoon finely chopped garlic, ½ tablespoon finely chopped ginger and 2 to 3 green chillies, slit or diagonally sliced.
- Sauté on low for 1 to 2 minutes.
- Add ¼ cup chopped scallions (only the white part) or spring onion whites and 1 teaspoon finely chopped celery – optional.
- Press sauté again and set to normal. Sauté scallions for minute.
- Add chopped mushrooms (200 to 250 grams) and ⅓ cup sliced green bell pepper (capsicum).
- Sauté for 2 minutes stirring often. If the onions, ginger and garlic, etc start sticking at the bottom, then change the sauté setting to less.
- Add the sauce mixture which we had prepared earlier.
- Mix very well.
- Add ½ cup water or vegetable stock. Stir well.
- Cancel the sauté mode. Secure the instant pot with its lid and position the steam release handle to sealing. Press the pressure cook button on high pressure and set the timer for 5 minutes.
Make Corn Starch Slurry
- Meanwhile take 2 teaspoons tapioca starch or corn starch or potato starch and 1 tablespoon water in a small bowl.
- Mix very well and keep aside.
Make Instant Pot Mushroom Chilli
- After 5 minutes, do a quick pressure release and then open the lid.
- Stir the prepared slurry and add it to the mushrooms.
- Mix again very well.
- Press sauté button again on normal mode for 1 to 2 minutes.
- Let the sauce simmer for 1 to 2 minutes or more till the sauce or gravy thickens and the rawness of the starch is not felt. If the sauce becomes too thick add some hot water.
- Once the sauce gets thickened, press the cancel button. Sprinkle some scallion greens or spring onion greens. Stir and mix. Check the seasonings and add bragg’s liquid amino or soy sauce, sugar, salt or crushed black pepper more if required.
- Serve chilli mushroom gravy hot with bread rolls, fried rice, noodles or fettuccine pasta. Garnish with some finely chopped scallion greens while serving. Please be sure to rate the recipe in the recipe card or leave a comment below if you have made it. For more vegetarian inspirations, Sign Up for my emails or follow me on Instagram, Youtube, Facebook, Pinterest or Twitter. This post contains amazon affiliate links. As an amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
▢ 1 tablespoon bragg’s liquid aminos or 2 teaspoons soy sauce – add less or more as you prefer▢ 2 teaspoons red chilli sauce▢ 2 teaspoons green chilli sauce▢ 1 teaspoon rice vinegar or apple cider vinegar or white vinegar▢ ¼ to ½ teaspoon freshly crushed black pepper or ground black pepper or white pepper▢ ½ teaspoon sugar or add as required▢ ¼ teaspoon salt or add as required
▢ 2 teaspoons tapioca starch or corn starch or potato starch ▢ 1 tablespoon water
This chilli mushroom post from the archives, first published in Dec 2014 has been republished and updated on 19 November 2021.
