Mushroom and Minced Chicken Herb Curry, made with SN3

Three textures of mushroom come apart in the mouth. Shimeji tears into fine strands, maitake crumbles softly, and only the king oyster mushroom keeps its bite to the very end.

Symphony No.3 carries oregano and rosemary. Of the four curries, this is the only one that holds both. They sit right at the back of the ingredient list, present in the smallest amounts of anything in the blend, and take either away and this aroma does not appear. Nothing in the blend is there to bring heat, so the curry is not hot.

Mushrooms give off water. Once the aromatics have gone amber, they go into the pan before the minced chicken, and five minutes drives that water off before you move on. Skip this and the sauce thins out while it simmers.

Total time: about 60 min

Ingredients (Serves 4)

• SN3 / starter spices (the bag of whole spices): 1 bag
• SN3 / powder spices (the bag of ground spices): 1 bag
• Minced chicken: 300g
• Shimeji: 1 pack (about 100g)
• Maitake: 1 pack (about 100g)
• King oyster mushroom: 2 (about 100g)
• Onion: 1
• Carrot: 1/2
• Celery: 1/2 stalk
• Garlic: 2 tsp (1–2 cloves)
• Ginger: 2 tsp (1–2 pieces)
• Canned whole tomatoes: 1 can (400g)
• Coconut milk: 3 tbsp (milk also works)
• Water: 200ml
• Salt: 1 tsp
• Oil: 3 tbsp (use whichever oil you prefer; for this recipe we suggest rice bran oil or white sesame oil)

Preparation

1. Grate the garlic, then the ginger, in that order. If you have no grater, chop them finely.
2. Slice the onion thinly, cutting across the fibres.
3. Finely chop the carrot and the celery. Chop the celery leaves and use them as well.
4. Trim the bases from the shimeji and maitake and tear them into small clusters by hand. Cut the king oyster mushrooms in half across, then tear each half lengthwise into six. Torn faces are rougher than knife-cut ones, so the sauce clings to them better.
5. Do not wash the mushrooms in water. If the dirt bothers you, wipe it away with a dry paper towel. Water left on them is what makes the sauce watery.
6. Open the starter spices (the bag of whole spices) and split the cardamom pods lengthwise with scissors or a knife — it lifts the brighter part of the aroma.

Instructions

1. Put the oil: 3 tbsp in a pan over low heat, and once the oil has warmed, add the starter spices (the bag of whole spices).
2. When the cardamom (the green pods) puff up, add the grated garlic and ginger and cook for about 30 seconds, stirring them through the spices.
3. Add the onion, carrot and celery with the salt: 1 tsp, mix them thoroughly through the spices, then turn the heat to high and cook for about 12 minutes until amber, splashing in water again and again.

   How far you cook the onion changes the finished dish more than anything else. “It came out watery”, “the tomato tastes too sharp”, “it lacks depth” — the single biggest cause of all three is moving on to the next step before the onion has gone amber. Cook it for a full 12 to 15 minutes and keep going until it is properly amber.
   The points are
   • keep the heat at medium to high
   • spread the onion evenly across the pan and leave it, then stir; spread it evenly and leave it again, then stir — and repeat
   • whenever you stir and feel something catching on the base of the pan, splash in a little water (in our experience, about 2 tbsp of water each time, roughly five times in all)
   Splashing in water carries the savour the onion releases through the whole pan and keeps it from catching while it turns amber. Letting it colour just enough to need a splash of water is, if anything, exactly what draws the flavour out.

4. Once the aromatics are amber, switch to medium heat, add the shimeji, maitake and king oyster mushrooms and cook for about 5 minutes. The pan goes watery at first, but keep them moving over the heat and that water goes, and the edges of the mushrooms begin to colour. In the standard method for these curries, the meat goes in at this step. Mushrooms carry their own water, so in this recipe alone the mushrooms go first, and the meat follows once that water has gone.
5. Add the minced chicken: 300g, breaking it up as you go, and cook for about 3 minutes until the surface has changed colour.
6. Add all of the powder spices and work them through, thinking of it as cooking the powder itself through.
7. Push the ingredients to the side of the pan, add the canned tomatoes, crush the whole tomatoes thoroughly, then mix everything together.
8. Add the water: 200ml and the coconut milk: 3 tbsp, bring it to the boil, then lower the heat and simmer for about 15 minutes.
9. Finally, taste and adjust the salt. Adding it a pinch at a time until it lands where you like it is what makes the dish.

The bay leaves, cardamom and cassia (the bark) are not usually eaten, so take them out when you find them. Serving without them makes it easier to bring mushroom and minced chicken to your mouth together.

Inspice spice curry spice sets contain none of the chilli, cayenne or red pepper that usually carries the heat, so add as much as you like to suit your taste.

To add heat, we suggest HOT SPICE “Umakara”. It adds heat and savour together, so rather than simply getting hotter, the curry keeps its aroma and only the outline of the flavour tightens. Do not put it in the pan; serve into bowls first, then shake it on a little at a time. That way you can share one pan with someone who does not like heat.